


Not Alone

by chaoticookie



Category: Naruto
Genre: Drama, F/M, Horror, Psychological Horror, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-19
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-02 04:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2799596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticookie/pseuds/chaoticookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something lurks within Jingu, a strong-willed and enthusiastic girl. At first they were just dreams, but now they edge closer to reality and Jingu begins to question her sanity. It has come so far where she begins to doubt her identity and wonders if this other side of herself is her true persona.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I am Jingu

**Author's Note:**

> The story is more or less canon. I don't plan on changing any particular event. Later on it will head down its own road for a while, then get back on track. 
> 
> For now, this chapter's purpose is to simply introduce my character.

It's barren. Like a void. The classroom and its wooden framed walls and wood polished tables and benches that escalate from the front of the room to the top. The sensei's desk that stands on the dead center at the front of the room—an excellent view point to catch all the young shinobi's eager eyes. Although it looks familiar, it smells of freshly cut wood and wet paint which damages the memory, in a way. The smell of dried leaves is what will probably be missed the most.  
  
A slender hand touches the wood frame of the door and a deep, soft voice breaks the room's isolation.  
  
“Not a bad replica of the original. It's bigger,” she speaks to the novice classroom, “You will cherish many wonderful memories from here on out.”  
  
She turns and long coffee colored braided hair swings across her back with something glittering at its end. Tied at the end of the braid is a white string with a leaf charm hanging off it. It is outlined with a thin, delicate strip of gold and the veins are engraved with fine detail.  
  
Naked lips move, “Goodbye.”  
  
A qipao based clothing that reveals the legs in full, hugs her tough, athletic build. Beneath the dress are harem pants that stop at the calf, and tied around her waist and across her chest is a long white sash whose ends hang at her left hip.  
  
“Gotta help the people I love with saving the world.”  
  
Thin almond eyes with a chocolate center. Mature. Calculating. Soft.  


* * *

   
Thin almond eyes with a chocolate center. Bored. Uninterested. Lazy.  
  
Jingu releases a loud yawn which she extends longer than it needs to. Sitting beside her is Shikamaru who yawns right after her.  
  
“Man,” Jingu moans out loud to an empty classroom, “why'd Izumo have to wake me up so goddamn early with him?”  
  
Shikamaru rests his forehead on the table, “Troublesome mother... Who wakes up early just because they're becoming a Genin? So unnecessary.”  
  
The clock ticks away the seconds of class starting in 45 minutes. Both sigh.  
  
“Are you excited?” Jingu asks.  
  
“No. Are you?”  
  
“Yeah. I think I am.”  
  
“I'd hate to end up with someone like Ino or Sakura. Noisy fellows.”  
  
Jingu chuckles then tries to mimic their squealing voices, “Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun! Can I sit next to you? Have you noticed that my boobs have gotten bigger?” she grabs a hold of her breasts and squishes them together as she says this.  
  
Shikamaru blushes and turns away, “Quit it!”  
  
The door swings open and Sasuke steps inside. His soft footsteps echoes throughout the classroom as he approaches his seat. His jet black bangs covers the sides of his handsome features which augments his mysterious aura, but a peak beneath the veil and one will only get slapped in the face with cold, dry wind.  
  
Jingu hides her laughing face into the folds of her arms. She changes the subject since the subject has entered the room, “I heard from my brother that Naruto graduated.”  
  
“What? How?”  
  
Jingu shrugs her shoulders, “He wouldn't tell me. Must have done something to impress Iruka-sensei.”  
  
Shikamaru rests his face on the palm of his hand as he ponders this, “Well whatever, I guess.”  
  
A few more seconds pass by between them before Jingu perks up, “Maybe we'd end up on the same team!”  
  
Shikamaru grumbles a response to which she narrows her eyes at, “What's that supposed to mean?”  


* * *

  
Underneath the trees' foliage Jingu stares up in fixation at the sun's gold rays bleeding through and between the leaves overhead. A passing wind picks up her bangs and some stray hairs from her short french braid. She closes her eyes and listens to the leaves rubbing against one another, the rustle between the blades of grass, the bird's songs, and the insect's wings.  
  
“Jingu!”  
  
Hanging his head to the side is Inuzuka Kiba grinning from ear to ear above her. Akamaru's white head pops out from beneath his jacket and barks a greeting.  
  
“Good morning, Kiba. Akamaru,” she grins.  
  
“How long have you been here?”  
  
Jingu pushes herself off the ground and pats away the dirt from her slim fitting capris, “Not long. Just wanted to enjoy the morning before training.”  
  
Coming from behind Kiba is Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. Hinata offers Jingu a small and a soft “good morning.” Shino's greeting is curt, but Jingu smiles to him the same way she did with the others.

 

Kiba falls to the ground with the sharp end of a kunai aimed at his throat. Holding it is Jingu who is panting hard with sweat soaking the collar of her fishnet shirt.  
  
“How many seconds do you have left?” Jingu's sensei, Kurenai, asks.  
  
“Five.”  
  
“Good. Use the rest to spar with Hinata.”  
  
Jingu frowns, “Shino's time for rest is almost up. I can spar with him again.”  
  
“She needs a little challenge. Right, Hinata?”  
  
Hinata nods her head. Jingu rests her hands on her waist and ponders with herself for a bit.  
  
“Well. It is, what it is,” Jingu says under her breath. She faces Hinata, “Ready?”  
  
Kiba and Shino stand behind Kurenai to observe.  
  
Hinata activates her byakugan as she gets into her stance. Jingu takes out a kunai from the pouch strapped around her thigh. Hinata is the first to attack.  
  
The palm of her hands continue to strike at Jingu's weak points in perfect succession. Each strike as powerful as the last. Hinata's nimble movements flows naturally after each step she takes, each strike she waves. The Hyuugas have probably the most elegant form in fighting of any shinobi. It is strong, smooth, and seamless. It reminds Jingu of how the leaves twirl in the air as they take their time to fall to the ground. To think that someone with as small a frame as Hinata's can render a shinobi helpless if her palm even grazes their body.  
  
Jingu dodges a palm striking at her neck, then another at her torso. She slashes at Hinata's thin arm, but she dodges and brings her other palm up.  
  
Around them, the leaves fall at a snails pace towards the ground. Winds caress the blades as gently as possible, the smell of sweat dripping down the others face and neck fills Jingu's senses, and Hinata's movement slows to a standstill. Her stance and posture is picture worthy: beautiful and deadly. Short, dark purple hair is sprawled out in the air, sweat falls down her pale/flush features, and her vein popping eyes are... hesitant? Jingu doesn't have the time to ponder on this. Four seconds.  
  
Jingu takes a straining step towards Hinata's foot and pushes it out of stance.  
  
2 more seconds.  
  
Out of caution, she moves away her hand Hinata is going to strike at.  
  
0 seconds. She blinks.  
  
Hinata strikes with her palm at too far up an angle and attempts to quickly retain her stance. But Jingu points the kunai at her throat before being given the opportunity.  
  
“Good. Now Hinata... Hinata?” Kurenai looks upon her with concern.  
  
Hinata holds her hands close to her chest and raises her shoulders, “Jingu-san.”  
  
“Tch,” Jingu scratches her head in frustration, “This is why I never wanted to spar with you.”  
  
“The time manipulation technique. It does damage to your body.”  
  
“Just as I suspected. You are battling against time after all,” Kurenai says.  
  
It is then Jingu realizes that her sensei wanted Hinata to spar with her for this purpose, and she suspects Hinata knew this. She can also take Kiba's and Shino's stressing silence that they were aware of what was going on as well.  
  
“Does your brother know about this?”  
  
A pause, “I'm not sure. I haven't outright told him if that's what you're asking.”  
  
Jingu waits as Kurenai battles with a decision. She opens her mouth, but Jingu cuts her off, “If you're going to forbid me from using this technique, it's not going to stop me from using it out of your supervision.”  
  
Kurenai smirks, “Oh, I'm aware of that, so I'm giving you two options. The first: I will have a seal done on you that will render that technique useless,” she lifts a second finger, “and the second: you will have to do extra training. Strength training. And it will not be easy.”  
  
“Strength...” Jingu ponders this. What really causes the damage to her body is when she tries to move within the jutsu. She described the feeling to her team like moving through a sea of tree sap. If her body gains enough strength to resist it, she may be able to move more freely and lengthen the time of her jutsu.  
  
“I'll do it.”  
  
“Put the seal on you?” Kiba jokes.  
  
Jingu chuckles, “The strength training. I'll do it.”  
  
“Excellent. We'll start tomorrow,” she turns to the rest of the team, “Ten minute break. Except you Shino. Come with me.”  
  
“Jingu-san,” Hinata calls.  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“What is...” she shifts her eyes away from Jingu's line of sight and to her feet, “what is your goal? I-I mean. What motivates you to work so hard?”  
  
Jingu looks down at the timid girl with genuine surprise. She then scratches the back of her head with slight embarrassment, “Well you see...” she tries to fit the right words together so it won't sound so strange.  
  
Hinata and Kiba's focus become intense as they wait for her words to spill out of her mouth.  
  
“The future,” Jingu half smiles, hoping they won't ask about it any further.  
  
“Ah?” Kiba raises an eyebrow.  
  
Hinata, although she doesn't quite understand the meaning either, smiles.  
  
“You have something that motivates you as well right, Hinata?” Jingu smirks.  
  
Hinata's face turns bright red as she stutters incoherent words. Jingu laughs at her bumbling leaving Kiba out of the loop.

"What? I don't get it."

 

“Damn. I'm beat,” Jingu trudges across the long brick path in Konoha's quaint village. The fencing along the path are old but sturdy since they've lasted for so many years. And rising behind them are colored tiled roofs that appears to have been placed in a terribly shabby way. They cover homes with walls of equally poor quality, but they are homes that people love for it keeps the rain, heat, wind, and cold out as effectively as any other high priced home. It's one of the many unique qualities that Jingu admires about her home. She has been to other neighboring nations for missions and nothing beats Konoha's fine reds, greens, and browns that shades this village.  
  
Nearing an intersection, Sasuke appears from the road to her right and turns to continue up the one Jingu is on. Lots of chattering erupts from the road he appeared from and Jingu takes a sudden interest when she hears a familiar voice. She takes a peek behind the corner and sees Naruto, Sakura, and three small children bickering about something. She steps out and approaches them.  
  
“Hey, guys-”  
  
“WRONG,” Sakura unleashes her novice, yet formidable, strength at Naruto with a single punch to the face. He flies back against the fence and crushes it before helplessly falling to the ground.  
  
Jingu's eyebrow twitches with uncertainty, “He's bleeding...”  
  
The small child with wild brown hair screams at Sakura, “You ugly girl. UGLY.”  
  
“Shh!” Jingu tries to quiet him. But Sakura has already begun to crack her knuckles and chakra is spewing from her body. Jingu can not understand why she is wasting so much in such a measly situation. Jingu recalls, from her observation in the academy, that Sakura was the best student at controlling her chakra. She may not actually be wasting any at all right now.  
  
Sakura clobbers the small child across the head, despite his desperate protests. She walks away in a huff as Jingu observes the damage done to the child's and Naruto's head. Jingu gives her chin a thoughtful stroke. That punch was infused with chakra. Sakura may not know it yet, but her strength is escalating at an incredible rate. Jingu sighs with pity. And she's been practicing it on this numbskull of a teammate.  
  
The boys wake up and Naruto rests a delicate hand on the bump on his head, “Oh. Hey, Jingu...”  
  
“You know better than to piss her off.”  
  
“That ugly-wide-head-forehead-girl... Is she really a girl?” the child questions offhandedly.  
  
“Idiot! Haven't you learned your lesson already?” Jingu exclaims.  
  
“Eh? Who are you?”  
  
Sakura stops in her tracks and turns towards them. An unsettling silence passes between them as they wait for Sakura's reaction and their impending doom. Jingu stifles a laugh.  
  
Sakura bolts after them and they all sprint away as fast as they could. Jingu is laughing hard.  
  
“Why are you laughing?” Naruto shouts with panic.  
  
“I don't know why I'm running too!”  
  
Everyone else is screaming, but Jingu continues to laugh her head off out of pure excitement. It all comes to an abrupt end when the child bumps into a figure dressed all in black. His kabuki painted face looks down at the child with a morbid sense of interest.  
  
“That hurt, brat,” he deadpans as he grabs the child by his blue scarf and lifts him to his eye level.  
  
“Konohamaru!” Naruto expresses his concern for his friend.  
  
“Stop it. We're going to get scolded later,” the girl beside the stranger with sand colored hair speaks. Jingu reads the headbands symbol around her neck: Sunagakure. Outsiders in Konoha. Jingu wonders if they are here on a mission. Sakura pleads that she was the one at fault, but neither of them seem to care.  
  
“Hey! Let go of that hand!” Naruto hollers.  
  
“But I want to play around before some noisy people come,” a smirk fills his face.  
  
They're bored, looking for something to do and Jingu senses that they are testing them. She bites her lip in frustration. She just finished training and has not received enough rest to even be at a level for defense. She would only get in the way and cause more damage if she interferes... unless. She may have used up her 20 seconds, but just one more wouldn't hurt. It's been a month since she last went over the limit by half a second and the result was excruciating. She instinctively raises a hand to her heart at the memory of it.  
  
She can pull it off. Half a second to a second. Enough to analyze his movements. However, she doesn't know what these people are capable of and the large objects strapped onto their backs are more than likely their weapons. Her thoughts are interrupted by Naruto's scream as he rushes towards the kabuki boy. Jingu's watchful eyes closes in on him to catch any sudden movement his body may perform.  
  
A rise in his shoulder of his free arm. His forearm rises just a touch and twists upward. His hand opens and his fingers move like a dance. Naruto trips on himself and lands on his back. Wire string? No. There would have been a reflection from the sun's light. Chakra? Possibly.  
  
“Konoha's Genins are weak.”  
  
Naruto, who seemed to have forgotten about being fazed by his mysterious blunder, stands up and points an accusing finger at the older boy, “Hey! If you don't let go of him, you're going to get it from me, you idiot!”  
  
Sakura puts him in a head lock right after his declaration, “You're the idiot! Don't provoke him!”  
  
“You piss me off.”  
  
Jingu does a slow turn of the head towards the kabuki boy and expresses her unbelief if the boy truly did get pissed from Naruto's outrageous invitation of a challenge.  
  
“You're so impertinent for someone younger than me. I'm going to break you.”  
  
Not a threat. Jingu can feel his lust for violence. He's enjoying this far too much.  
  
He raises his fist and draws it back as he looks squarely at Konohamaru, “After this short kid, the other one is next.”  
  
Jingu bursts into a sprint before anyone can react. She extends her hand out toward his raising fist. The kabuki boy doesn't seem fazed by her coming after him and continues towards Konohamaru's face. The female beside him doesn't seem to think Jingu can take him on as a smile plays on her features.  
  
She's inches away. Jingu blinks and time slows to a stop. 1 second.  
  
The muscles beneath the skin of her outstretched arm bulge from the strain of pushing through the heavy force around her. Her thigh and calf expand with effort as she pushes her foot off the ground. The veins and muscles from her neck rise up against her skin as she grits her teeth.  
  
Half a second left.  
  
There is an irregular beat in her heart, but Jingu pushes forward; edging the tips of her fingers in front of the gloved fist. That's enough.  
  
She blinks.  
  
Her hand catches the punch and in that instant something strikes the other hand the kabuki boy has Konohamaru in. A small rock falls to the ground and the boy releases him from the pain. Jingu's hand slides off his fist as her legs lose the ability to keep her standing. She sinks to the floor and clutches her heart as she releases heavy breaths. Sweat falls down her face then drips off her chin. Another half a second and she would be coughing blood right now.  
  
The kabuki boy and his companion look down at Jingu with confusion; not sure about what had just occurred. But the boy quickly directs his gaze at the person who threw the rock. Lounging on a tree branch is Sasuke tossing another small rock up and down from his hand.  
  
“What do you think you're doing in someone's village?”  
  
Sakura squeals with delight. Jingu hangs her head with relief that a capable shinobi arrived.  
  
“Get lost,” he says as he crushes the rock in his hand and turns it into dust. Jingu mentally refracts her earlier statement from the show he just put on.  
  
A quiet moan from the bark of a tree whispers in Jingu's ears. She looks at Sasuke, but he hasn't moved. Her heart skips a beat when she catches a shadow of a figure in her peripheral vision. A red-headed boy standing upside down on the tree's bark watches the scene with cold, dead eyes. His aura lacks emotion, care, or anything that makes one human. Similar to a dangerous animal that has been caged its whole life and is set free—not knowing what it's intentions are. The kanji for 'love' on his head only adds to his harrowing presence.  
  
His shadowed eyes slink to Jingu's direction and they widen, ever so slightly, in curiosity and interest. There has been only one being in her life that can make her feel so helpless and filled with anxiety. He's the second. Before him, she is just a lump of meat for him to rip into shreds.  
  
“Why don't you come down here, brat,” the kabuki boy spouts as he unravels the mummified object off his back and sets it on the ground.  
  
The abnormal boy returns to the scene, “Kankurou, stop,” husky, deep, and disturbing. His voice is like a flat line, with no bumps or rough edges. Straight and unfeeling, “You're a disgrace to our village.”  
  
Kankurou's fighting spirit depletes in an instant. He stumbles over the name of his second companion, “Gaara...”  
  
Gaara continues, “Why do you think we came all the way here to Konoha?”  
  
“Listen, Gaara,” sweat is perspiring down his face. Whoever it was they saw messing with them is long gone, “these guys started it-”  
  
“Shut up,” Kankurou flinches, “I'll kill you.”  
  
Kankurou and the female raise their hands in front of their bodies. An instinctive gesture for defense, “I get it. I get. It was my fault. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.”  
  
“Excuse them, you guys,” Gaara says, but as he faces Sasuke with a calculating look.  
  
He dematerializes into sand and reappears before his, most likely, teammates, “Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around.”  
  
Sakura says something as they turn away from them, but Jingu loses her focus, unable to listen to the rest of the conversation. Her body becomes heavy and her neck can't hold her head up anymore. She tries pushing herself off the ground, but her arms feel like deadweight and her legs numb. In one month she is barely able to last half a second longer. She scoffs at this.  
  
“Jin...” she hears the first few syllables of her name.  
  
“Jingu!” Sakura whispers loudly in her ear, “Are you ok? He's asking for your name.”  
  
“Wha? Oh,” she tilts her head towards their direction, “Kamizuki Jingu,” she tries her best to smile, but she can feel it sagging back down into a frown. She forces her eyes to remain open. Upon hearing the name leave her lips, Gaara turns and jumps away with the other two members following suite.  
  
Jingu closes her eyes and lets her head rest on the warm ground.


	2. It is Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chuunin Exams. I don't intend to spend too much time on it, so I've written it where it's one exam a chapter. But ya'll know why the exams are so important. We get to see Gaara being a psychotic little punk ass.

The world is dark. There is no wind. No scent. Jingu feels nothing beneath her feet. She lifts her arm and it's precisely like moving in her time manipulation jutsu. A glimmer of white light rises behind the silhouette of a large sand dune. It moves up with lethargy, casting its rays over the field of grains of sand. Then its arms extend in front of her to reveal the back head of blonde hair, wide shoulders covered in black, then the red swirl on the center of the jacket. The remainder of the clothing is orange.

“Naruto?” her voice echoes. He is taller, older and there is a sense of calm when she looks at him; as if fear would never exist in his presence. He does not respond. Above his shoulder a pair of sharingan eyes open from within the darkness. They stare at her, sending a cold gust of wind right through her.

“Sasuke.”

In an instant, her heart leaps out of her chest and her stomach flaps with wings. She watches her bangs slowly rise and Naruto's body moving up. She's falling. A veil of black ascends from his feet and continues up. When it reaches his neck, he turns his head and the profile of his face has the red eyes of a demon. But he flashes his childish grin at her and the veil covers him and Sasuke's eyes, which soften at her, completely.

There is a moaning voice etched with pain, “She will emerge from an ageless body and then she will be mine.”

A woman's bleeding face appears before Jingu. Her eyes are gouged out, her forehead slit open, and her long white hair is stained red with blood. She grabs Jingu's face with her disfigured hands, “You must find her!” she cries.

Jingu awakes in cold sweat. She takes heavy breaths through her mouth while she looks around the foreign room with frantic eyes. White walls. White ceiling. White sheets. She tugs on the green gown she's wearing. Hospital.

She tries sitting up, but her head gets knocked with dizziness. She falls back on the overly plush pillow. In her peripheral there is a dark shadow. She sits up and turns to it, but nothing is there.

She puts her head into her hands and releases a shaky breath, “Dammit.”

 

Jingu's teammates pass by open stalls and shops lined up along the street. In Hinata's hands is a bouquet of white lilies.

Kiba removes a square sheet of beige paper from his jacket's pocket and skims it:  
  
 _ **Kamizuki Jingu**_

_I recommend the one with the name above to the Chuunin selection exam under my name, Yuuhi Kurenai._

_Jounin_

_Yuuhi Kurenai_

 

On the windowsill is a thin vase with a single, pink flower placed in it. Tied around its stem is a note that reads: “From Team 7”, in Sakura's handwriting.

Jingu is able to sit up against the headboard of the bed without any head throbbing, but the joints in her legs bent like jell-o when she tried getting out of bed. She stares out the window, replaying her dream. When she compares the Naruto she knows to the handsome, older one in her dreams, the two cannot match in her head. Then the woman's horrific face flashes in her memory. There is a creak near the window sill and Jingu whips her head towards it. Nothing is there but the pink flower rolling its stem against the edge of the vase as if someone had just touched it.

Jingu jumps from the door clicking open to reveal an unexpected visitor. Sasuke approaches Jingu's bedside with a calm exterior. Jingu makes an expression that he's the last person she wants or cares to see. Sasuke smirks at this.

Jingu starts, “What are _you_ doing here?”

“What was it that you did to stop that guy's fist?”

“I don't have to tell you that.”

He chuckles, “I thought so. The guy with the gourd. He's taken an interest in you as well, in case you weren't aware.”

Jingu gives him a scrutinizing look, “So what if he is? It's not like you care about my well-being.”

“Whatever we may face in the Chuunin exams, I'm the person who's going to beat him.”

Questions rise in Jingu's head, “What? When is that? Is it soon?”

Sasuke removes his hands from his pant's pockets, “How long have you been asleep?”

“Two days. Just woke up today.”

“Hn. It's five days from now. When are you going to be discharged?”

“I don't know. Hopefully soon, apparently.”

A brief silence passes between them. Jingu can sense his eagerness to know what exactly it was she did to stop Kankurou's fist, and if she plans on being the one to take down the red head.

“What's his name again?”

“Gaara of the Sand.”

Jingu nods, “Don't worry. I don't plan on stealing your thunder. Personally, I'm not interested. He wants to fight for bloodshed and I'd rather not get into that,” she reveals a meek smirk, unashamed of sharing her unease, “But if _the_ Uchiha Sasukeever wants to battle me, it'll be my pleasure to beat the academy's greatest fighter,” she grins.

He scoffs, “You're on, Kamizuki Jingu.”

He turns and heads for the door. Before he steps out Jingu says, “Thank Sakura for the flower for me. It's lovely.”

He nods then closes the door behind him. Down the hall she can hear Kiba's booming voice questioning Sasuke. She chuckles softly to herself.

Sasuke's eyes can be kind, but most of the time they lack any resolve and are isolated—nothing like the kind, soft, determined ones in her dream.

“Or vision,” she reminds herself.

 

Evening cast its blanket of darkness over Konohagakure hours ago, but Jingu has yet to try to fall asleep. She'd face Gaara any day if it means never seeing that woman's dismantled face in her dreams again. The image continues to flash in her thoughts, and the white walls are a constant reminder of the blood soaked hair. She tries shifting her thoughts to Naruto's wide, protective shoulders and the flash of Sasuke's calm eyes—they offer some comfort.

The door slides open and a silhouette of a man strolls inside the dark room. Just by the sound of his walk, Jingu can pinpoint who each step belongs to.

With great relief she calls to him, “Niichan.”

Kamizuki Izumo is a young man at the handsome age of 24. His brown hair is combed down beneath a bandana, and it carries the metal plate that bears the village's symbol.

He leans over the bed and embraces Jingu, “Sorry that I couldn't come any sooner after you woke up,” his green flak jacket, that symbolizes his Chuunin status, presses against her body and she takes in the lingering scent of their home. She holds him tighter as her heart swells to come back with him and out of the white walled building where she has to suffer many hours being “alone”.

Jingu shakes her head, “It's alright.”

Izumo takes a seat by the bed and looks at her with kindness from his left eye only—the right eye being completely covered by his bangs, “The Chuunin exams are keeping me busy.”

“I just heard about the exam today,” Jingu sighs, “Talk about pressure.”

“You'll be okay... I hope,” he keeps his smile as he says this.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“You've gotten some visitors,” he nods towards the flowers on the windowsill, plainly changing the subject. There is the one Sakura gave her and beside it is a larger vase holding a bouquet of white lilies.

“Pretty aren't they?... Where's Kotetsu by the way?”

“He crashed at my place. The work load is killing him.”

“Uh. Don't you two share the same work load?”

“You know how he is,” he laughs.

Jingu returns a nervous chuckles. The reason for her being hospitalized in the first place hasn't been brought up yet, and it's causing a sweat. She can only guess that he's letting it linger in the air for a while to torture her nerves, meaning he's quite livid about the situation. His smile cracks a bit, letting his anger seep out. Jingu lowers her head in defeat. If this goes on any further, he will remain angry with her for a long time, and that's the last thing she wants from an examiner in the Chuunin Exams.

“So,” Jingu stares at the sheets clutched in her hands, “about my jutsu-”

“I had a vague idea about the strain it puts on your body. Just not to this extent. Was this the first time it happened?”

“No. I went over my limit when I was training by myself once about a month ago,” she keeps the part about her hitting the extra one second mark and coughing up blood to herself.

His eye closes as his eyebrows pinch together while he withholds a comment. Jingu shrinks back at this.

“Continue,” is all he says.

“W-well, some guys from Suna were bullying a child named Konohamaru and I just had to do something. I... also thought it would have been a good time to test what I can do in one month's time,” she laughs, “I couldn't last a second or barely even half of one. I've got a long way to go.”

Izumo shakes his head, “Not only were you out of chakra, but your body was tired from the training you did before. You could have been put in a comma or worse. Let's not forget that you never shared with me the dangers your jutsu does to your body. You made a reckless decision and...”

Jingu looks away from her brother in shame.

He continues, “And,” then he rests a hand on her head, “I'm also proud of you. Somehow, things could have been worse but I trust you knew what you were doing. You did save the Third's grandson after all!”

“What? That was his...? How does Naruto know who he is? Now that I think about it, that idiot is pretty familiar with the Third.”

Izumo doesn't comment on that, “Don't practice that technique by yourself again, though. Got it?”

Jingu nods, “It's a promise.”

“You're being discharged tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Don't tell anyone though,” she puts a finger to her lips, “Shino and I have come up with something.”

“Thinking ahead. Good,” he stands to leave, “Well-,” Jingu grabs his hand. She removes her blanket of cheerfulness to reveal a dark expression.

“That woman. She came back.”

Izumo stops, “The dream? How many years has it been? Five?”

Jingu stiffens and sits still. Izumo turns rigid as well and does not dare move. She turns her head as a shadow casts over face. Her lips press together in a firm line, and she gives a long, dark, and ominous stare straight into her brother's eyes. Izumo doesn't recognize her anymore.

“Jingu?” he whispers.

“No dream. A vision,” Jingu holds her stare and then blinks.

“Niichan?”

Izumo releases a breath of air he had been holding in, then rubs his face with his free hand. He stumbles over his words, “Was it the same one like the past two times it happened?”

“Yes. But it was also new.”

“New?”

She grins, “I saw hope.”

 

“You sure about this, Jingu?” Kiba frowns and Akamaru follows with a whimper.

Jingu used a transformation jutsu to completely change her appearance: a male with short brown hair; goggles; long-sleeved, v-neck shirt with a high collar and fishnet underneath; and cargo pants.

“It's for the best. A team of fou- I mean, five members would stand out too much. Right, Shino?”

“Yes, it would.”

“You knew about this?!” Kiba protests.

“Hinata. Thoughts?”

Hinata presses her pointer fingers together and looks up beneath her fringe, “It's... the best solution,” she whispers.

“You too?”

“She understands what needs to be done,” Shino stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jacket, “It's not like we're abandoning her. She will be within our field of vision at all times.”

Kiba growls in frustration, “Fine. Fine. But what if people start asking about you?”

“Just tell them I wasn't allowed out of the hospital yet,” she punches the worrywart's shoulder, “Don't worry about me. I can handle myself.”

“You're right,” Kiba raises his forearm and Jingu takes his hand in a firm grasp, “You can totally pass as a guy since you act like one already.”

A vein pops out of Jingu's forehead, “Is that what you're worried about?”

 

Jingu enters the building first on her own. On the second floor she sees a crowd of people and among them is team seven, and Izumo and Kotetsu disguising themselves as Genin. Her and Izumo make eye contact, but continue on with their respective duties. She glances at the sign above the door which reads 301, but they're still on the second floor. She chuckles at her brother's chosen challenge for the examinees, and then continues to the next floor. Upon arriving at the entrance, Kurenai-sensei is standing in front of it with arms crossed.

“Junpei,” Kurenai calls her by her alias.

“Yes!” Jingu responds.

“You made a brave decision to take on the exam “by yourself”,” Kurenai smiles, “You were the right person for the job.”

Jingu grins, “I won't let you or the others down, sensei.”

“You won't. Give 'em everything you got.”

 

The room is packed with shinobi's from different villages. Jingu found herself a corner to stand in to be out of the line of sight from people she knows and who may see through her deception. In the front center of the room are nine first year Genins: her team, Shikamaru's, and Naruto's, and a person with silver hair and round spectacles she is not familiar with. Shikamaru glances around the room, in his lazy sort of way, and squints at Jingu. She does not move from where she is and pretends she doesn't notice him.

 

The first round is a written exam who's proctored by Morino Ibiki, a tall man with large muscles hidden beneath a heavy, black trench coat. Every part of his body is covered in black except his tan face. His narrow eyes glower at the entrees, creating an aura of intimidation around him. However, Jingu is not quite as worried about him as much as she is to the person she was assigned to sit next to. She glances at Gaara from the corner of her eye, praying that he doesn't see past her disguise. So far, he is keeping to himself and hasn't looked her way once. Her nerves are becoming restless, but she keeps herself from shaking for he'll notice, without a doubt.

Aligned against the left and right walls of the room are the examiners holding their clipboards and pencils—ready to mark down cheaters. Among them is Izumo and Kotetsu, and she can feel their smugness rubbing against her face. She sneers with irritation.

Up on the wall, the ticking second hand from the clock strikes 12—exactly 3:30, “Begin!” Ibiki announces.

Jingu skims the questions. She can't answer any of them, and she's more than sure that most of the examinees here can't answer them either. She recalls the two point reduction from their already score of ten each time someone is caught cheating; an awfully low scoring system. That gives everyone the chance to cheat at least four times before they are kicked out. Jingu taps her pencil on the blank test paper—this is a test for gathering intelligence. She takes a discreet peek at Gaara. He's laying back against the chair with his arms crossed over his chest as he reads the test paper. He blinks slowly, unaffected by its questions. He picks up the pencil and begins answering some of them. Jingu raises her eyebrows—impressed. She wonders if the kid has any emotions to begin with.

Focus, she tells herself. She surveys the room in front of her with her head bowed and observes everyone. A lot of them are performing tactful techniques to obtain the test questions already. Kiba has Akamaru barking to him the answers. Shino is using his insects. Hinata, her byakuugan. Something moves in her peripheral; it's Gaara raising his arm. A thin stream of sand swirls around it, then collects in the palm of his upturned hand and forms into an eyeball. Jingu grimaces as the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, but she forces herself to continue observing. He crushes the eye and it disperses into sand; the tiny particles spread throughout the room. Soon, he removes the two fingers pressed against his left eye and writes down the rest of the answers. Jingu is somewhat thankful that she ended up sitting next to someone with tremendous talent, despite how dangerous he is. She puts the pencil down, sits back and waits.

His pencil stops moving. The moment she hears him place it on the table, time slows.

21 seconds starting, now.

Jingu looks over at the answers and memorizes it in 8 seconds.

Time resumes and she completes the test. 13 seconds remains.

She crosses her arms over her chest in victory, and then turns to Izumo who is eying her. Her smirk widens; he can't mark down what he cannot see. Izumo sighs—defeated. Kotetsu scratches his thick head of black hair in annoyance—he really wanted to mark her down. Both the males suddenly turn their heads to the front of room where Ibiki is staring them down. Both become serious and focus on the other students.

 

Once it hits the 45 minute mark, Ibiki begins his second announcement, “Alright, I will now give the 10th problem. But before I begin, I will explain one special rule for this last question.”

The door at the back of the room opens. Kankurou steps in with the peculiar looking examiner behind him, but stops after the doorway when he notices Ibiki's stare.

“You're lucky. Your puppet show didn't have to go to a waste.”

Kankurou's jaw clenches.

Jingu covers her mouth to hide her snarky grin, but not a moment later, a shiver runs down her spine. She peeks over her shoulder. Gaara is gripping tightly to his arms that are crossed over his chest and his eyes narrow with anger. Jingu can only imagine what violent means to end his teammate are coming to his mind.

“Oh well. Sit down.”

Kankurou does as he's told and as he does so, he brushes his hand against the table where his female companion sits.

Ibiki continues where he left off, “I will now explain. This is... a hopeless rule,” he faces away from the window and captures everyone's attention, “First, you are all going to choose if you wish to take the question or not. If you choose not to take it, your points will be reduced to zero and your other teammates will fail with you,” he smirks.

The room buzzes with questions and affirmations for taking the question.

“And here is the other rule,” Ibiki cuts in, “If you choose to take it and you get it wrong, you will lose the privilege to take the Chuunin Exam forever.”

In an instant, Kiba rises from his chair and points at Ibiki, “What kind of dumb rule is that?! There should be others here who have taken the Chuunin Exam in the past!”

As if Kiba had said a joke, Ibiki chuckles with amusement, “You were unlucky. This year, I am the rule. That is why I gave you the option of quitting.”

His words were cutting edge, and it's suffice for Jingu to say that this man is quite dangerous if he has the power to say something like that to them. She considers never seeing him in the academy or around any of the Jounin before. She has also been to the Hokage's office enough times with Izumo to be familiar with the faces of other higher ranking shinobi. The question is, what exactly is his occupation? It may help on how the final question needs to be answered.

“Let us begin. Those who will not be taking this 10th question, raise your hands.”

Gaara remains as stoic as ever. The notion of taking this _risk_ doesn't seem to faze him at all. In fact, the word may not even have a definite meaning to him, but is regarded as a feeling instead; similar to fear.

Hands begin to rise one by one, and soon, those who survived not being caught cheating, decrease to half that amount. What used to be an overbearing room suffers some emptiness now. An arm with an orange sleeve rises several seats before Jingu. It quivers in the air with uncertainty or shame. Jingu can't be sure other than knowing for certain that it isn't like Naruto to give up. His shoulders look so small compared to the older Naruto in her dream. It may have been just a dream after all.

He slams his hand against the table, “Screw you! I'm not running away! I'll take this problem. Even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going become Hokage no matter what, anyway! I'm not scared!”

They're not quite as wide like the ones from her dream... vision, but they are certainly getting there. Jingu smiles to herself.

Naruto sits back down. The atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone seems more daring and less doubtful. Even Gaara decides to raise his head at this. Jingu feels proud of personally knowing that idiot.

Ibiki gives one more glance around the room then steps forward, “So then. For the First Exam, everyone here... Passes!” he smiles.

Sakura out right questions this development and Ibiki replies with a large grin, “The 10th question never existed to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the 10th question.”

More people fail to understand the meaning behind the test. Ibiki affirms Jingu's assumption of it being meant for gathering intelligence, but more than that, to test their leadership capabilities for becoming a Chuunin. He removes his headband from his head and reveals scars, screw holes, and burns patterned throughout his hairless head. “Gathering information”, he says, “is done by putting your life on the line.” He is, in fact, an intelligence gatherer... and a torturer if she wants to think that far. So, he has an incredible understanding of the human psyche. Jingu now truly understands the incredible amount of strategy put behind the First Exam. She can't imagine what the next one will be.

A large ball of brown cloth breaks through a window from the left side of the room. It unravels to reveal a woman inside it and she pins the corners of the cloth with kunais to the ceiling. The banner hangs behind her and in large, white scrawls it reads: Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here.

“Everybody, there's no time to be happy. I am the Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko. Let's go to the next exam!” she pumps a fist in the air, “Follow me!”


	3. Paranoia

“The Forest of Death” is what Anko calls it. The dense forest is surrounded by tall metal fences that are stained with rust and moss. Signs that are tainted with dirt and red rust hang on them at every few meters or so, stating warnings of trespassing. No one can see past the trees on the very outskirts of the forest, and they deliver a threatening sensation with their twisting barks and crooked branches with leaves that hang like death. Jingu, standing near the edge of the crowd of examinees swallows a dry lump in her throat. Being distances away from her team during this exam is going to be tough.

“Before we begin the Second Exam,” Anko waves a thick stack of papers in her hands, “I'm going to pass these out to everyone.”

A wave of whispers rise from the examinees.

Anko continues, “These are consent forms. Those taking this exam must sign these. From here on out people will die. Therefore, we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise, I'd be held responsible,” she laughs.

She explains the exam as the papers are distributed among the examinees, “This is a survival match. I'll begin with the geographical features,” she reveals a scroll with an overhead view of the area, “The 44th training area is surrounded by 44 locked gate entrances. There is a river, a forest, and a tower in the middle. The tower is approximately 10 km away from the gates. Along with surviving the forest, there is a survival program which consists of,” she pulls out two scrolls from within her brown trench coat. One is white that bears the kanji for heaven, and the other is brown and it bears the kanji for earth, “fighting over these scrolls. Of the 26 teams, half will get the heaven scroll and the other the earth. Your team needs to bring both the heaven and earth scrolls to the tower within the 120 hour time limit. Or exactly 5 days.”

Shikamaru raises his hand, “Can we quit in the middle of the exam?”

“As a rule, you are not allowed to give up in the middle of the exam,” Anko gives it to him plainly. She then smiles, “You are to spend the five days in the forest.”

A sour note strikes Jingu's mood. If her team encounters Gaara, there will be no way of them surviving, taking note that she is considered a rival – she recalls his savage atmosphere – or something to kill. They're only option would be to escape, or try to at least.

“Now for the rules. One, you must bring both scrolls to the tower along with your whole team or you will fail. Two, if you lose a teammate or produce an unrecoverable teammate, you will fail. Lastly, as a note, you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower,” she smirks, “unless you want to be met with a surprise. The purpose of this exam is to test your reliability as a Chuunin. That's all!”

Everyone has the consent forms in hand and they all disperse with their teams to different areas around the field. Jingu tries to stay within a few certain meters of her teammates. She can see Akamaru sniffing the air and pointing his nose to her direction as he barks something to his master. Kiba rubs his head and eyes Jingu for a brief second.

Jingu sits her back against the tree and goes over the form. A black insect, the size of her fingernail lands on the corner of her paper. She gently lifts the sheet to her face and inspects the creature crawling around. It then flies on her shirt and goes inside it.

Knowing that Shino has sent one of his insects to keep track of her makes Jingu feel not so disconnected from the others and content. It may also keep away the lingering presence she feels whenever she's alone.

Shino and the others go beneath the flap of the tent to obtain either the heaven or earth scroll. When they emerge, the insect comes out of the shirt and flies in front of Jingu's face, creating imaginary lines for the kanji of earth. Jingu nods her head and the insect returns underneath her shirt. 

“If you have received a scroll, follow the person in charge and move to your designated gates.”

Jingu drops the signed form off at a tent then follows her team behind the foliage of trees and shrubbery to gate number 16. They are isolated with only the examiner in front of the gate and themselves. Everyone will jump the minute Anko declares the start of the exam in 30 minutes, so she plans on pursuing her team a moment after. With Shino's insect she will be able to keep track of them no matter the distance between them. Her role in this exam is to stay out of sight and provide back-up when they get in a pinch. She must also keep in mind that she has 13 seconds left to use her jutsu for this day or as long as she is awake.

Kiba and Shino speak in hush tones amongst each other. They turn to Hinata, who listens to their words, then nods her head. Shino turns to the direction where Jingu is hiding. His insect comes out and creates kanjis in the air like before: eye and trap.

Jingu nods her head then speaks to the insect, “Tell him that they do what they need to do and to count on me to protect them.”

After several moments Shino turns to the others and relays the message. The two smile and Akamaru barks with enthusiasm.

“We're countin' on ya!” Kiba shouts to Jingu's general direction.

The examiner standing in front of the gate unlocks it. Jingu takes in a small breath and releases it slowly.

“We will now begin the Chuunin Selection Second Exam!” Anko cries.

Every team pushes the gate open and allow the forest to take them into its foreboding shadows, including Jingu's. She follows suite after several moments.

 

Kiba and the others continue deeper into the forest until Akamaru barks to them the area's safety. Jingu sits high in the tree above them, keeping watch over their perimeter.

“Alright, Hinata. Do what we talked about,” Kiba tells her.

Hinata activates her byakuugan. She scans around her then points to an area overhead in the trees, “There. Leeches are in the those trees.”

“Alright. Let's set up the trap beneath that area.”

Kiba pulls out wires and kunais while Hinata and Shino search for strong blades of leaves to weave together into rope. Jingu senses a group not too far from them. Without a moment to waste she jumps to their location.

She reaches a team that's carrying the Konahagakure headband. Their bodies are facing the direction of where her team is, so Jingu can assume that they can sense them. There is loud snorting and stepping beneath her feet. Below her is a small herd of wild boars. Their bodies are large, their skin thick with bristles, and their muddy tusks extend high into the sky. In the center of the group is a baby boar with white stubs for tusks. Jingu rubs her chin with a sadistic smile spreading across her face.

The herd begins to move the opposite direction of where the enemy team is. Jingu lands on the ground and hides herself in the bushes. She throws some berries at the center of the herd; at the baby. It stops and eats the berry. She throws another behind it. It eats that one as well. Jingu then throws a trail that leads to the enemy, and the baby follows it—eating each one. Jingu throws a berry at the enemies head. He turns and looks down at the baby boar. He lifts it into his arms.  
“How did he get over here?” His comrade asks.

“Dude, I think you should put that down,” says another member.

“Ah, it's harmless! It's cute!”

“Jeez...”

Jingu throws a rock at the largest boar with scars and a missing eye at the front of the pack. It halts and turns around. As it does so, it spots the baby in the enemy's arms. Rage swells in its black eye then releases a squeal that shakes the earth. Jingu's eyes turn into saucers. The other boars turn and they too squeal with rage. They stampede towards the team. The enemy stands still for a moment, contemplating the situation.

As if struck by lightning, they begin to scream like girls as they run away with a hoard of boars on their trail.

“Let go of the goddamn baby, moron!” one of them screams in the distance.

Jingu sits in the bushes with the faint tremor of the earth receding beneath her feet.

“Wow.”

 

Two hours have passed and the trap had long been set. The steel wires glimmer under what little sunlight is able to make its way through the forest. They are tied in crisscross patterns several inches above the ground where a large net is camouflaged within the grass. Kiba and the others are chatting away over fake plans and food preparations in the open to grab anyone's attention. And so far, Jingu has not sensed anyone approach them. Her thoughts trail to Gaara which raises a stir in her stomach. She shakes her head and focuses on her priority. She regrets not telling her team about him. She may have led them into danger by not doing so.

 

The rustle of leaves and the soft padding of feet striking against the trees alert Jingu. A team from Amegakure land on a tree a few meters away from her team. Akamaru resonates a low growl, informing them of their guests.

Jingu catches wind of the Amegakure ninja's words as they speak about her team:

“Huh. They're just kids. They _want_ us to find them since they're in the open like that.”

As he is talking, small circles of sweat stains bleed through the back of his high collared shirt. A thick leech moves its way from beneath the branch they are on and crawls up the back of his shirt without anyone noticing. Jingu slides her kunai back inside her pouch.

His comrade responds, “ Looks like they noticed our presence but not our location yet.”

As they position themselves for an attack, the features of the one who spoke first turns pasty white. His breathing hitches. As he bows his head to catch his breath, he reveals the leech on the back of his neck. His other two teammates gasp in horror.

“What the hell is that?!”

Jingu watches the beads of sweat form on their brows then drip down their eyebrows, between their eyes, and down their faces. There is a rustle of leaves and branches from the treetops above them. A few loose leaves cascade over them, then leeches begin to rain down upon them. They all fall down in panic, attempting to rid of them with shurikens and kunais. However, they are too many for them to kill. They land between the wires, weak and barely able to move. As one of them sits up his glove catches onto the wire and pulls it, triggering the net to encase them all and lifting them in the air. They scream with surprise and terror.

With an air of victory, Kiba walks beneath the hanging bodies and searches them. Jingu clenches her hand around a branch with anticipation. Hinata and Shino are standing still but they are hardly trying to hide their eagerness.

Kiba pulls out a scroll and it is white—the heaven scroll.

Jingu smiles from ear to ear. She pumps a fist in the air and opens her mouth to release a silent cheer.

“Yahoo! We did it! We're ahead of the game!”

“That was a good plan, Shino,” Hinata applauds him.

“It was perfect!” Kiba says as he tosses the scroll up and down in his hand.

“We couldn't have done it without her. Every enemy I sensed, she kept them away,” Shino glances toward Jingu's direction.

Jingu sits against the tree bark with leisure as she pops a few berries in her mouth—a smirk extending across her features.

Shino continues, “Let's not waste anymore time. I'm sure some teams may follow their screams here.”

Kiba and Hinata nod their heads. The three of them jump up to the tree branches and head towards the tower. Jingu follows. And no one glances back at their captured victims

 

Kiba and Shino are arguing over strategy as Jingu lets her thoughts drift into a daze. The trees are losing their color and become a dull mixture of grays and browns. She loses her sense of touch, smell, and sound. Her body is moving on its own. She can feel herself drifting away until a strong wind of blood lust brings her back into full control of her body. Her eyebrows raise with worry but then shakes her head, not believing what she just felt. 

In the corner of her eye a shadow of a figure flies past her with great speed. She whips her head around, but nothing is there. Not even the shaking of a branch or the swaying of a leaf. Jingu returns her gaze ahead of her, fear evolving and becoming stronger as each second passes. A voice whispers in her ear, “He's here.”

Jingu stops on a tree branch and turns around. Nothing. Her breaths are heavy. Her eyes are darting every which way. The hairs on her body stand on end as the wave of blood lust comes over her again.

“No,” she shake her head. Jingu shoots toward her teammates to stop them; make them go another way. When she sees them, they had already stopped and Kiba makes the first jump in the direction where she senses  _him_ . Jingu pulls at the collar of her shirt and talks to the insect inside it, “Tell Shino that-” Jingu's body flings against the tree as if someone pulled her against it. Jingu gasps—winded—then falls onto a branch. Once she regains her breath, she pushes herself up—pure mortification dressing her features. She observes the area behind the strands of hair that has fallen over her face. There is no movement and the only sound she hears are her unsteady breaths. 

Jingu forces her body to move. She puts the abnormal situation aside for the moment and focuses on her teammates who will die at this rate because of her.

Kiba and the others are sitting behind a bush and Jingu lands on a branch several meters above them. The three of them are observing the team from Sunagakure and another team from Amegakure. Both teams are at a standoff, however, it seems that Gaara is the only one performing the confrontation. The Amegakure man on point has a missing eye and scars running down his face. He is spouting nonsense to which Gaara filters out.

“Cut the chit chat and let's fight,” Gaara deadpans.

Kankurou interjects, “Wait. We should follow them and gather more information. If they have the same scroll as us, there's no need for a fight. Unnecessary fights are-”

“It doesn't matter,” Gaara cuts him off, “I'll kill everyone we encounter.”

Jingu grits her teeth. This should be enough for Kiba to decide to escape, but he is still posted on the same spot. Shino and Hinata are also curious to see what is going to happen. Jingu pulls at her collar again to whisper to the insect, but when she tries to speak nothing comes out.

The point man takes Gaara's comment lightly as he removes the umbrellas strapped on his back. He throws them high in the air and performs a hand sign, “Sprinkling Sebon!”

The umbrellas spin fast in the air as sebon dart out from them. The man controls the sebon's movement with his chakra and directs them all at Gaara. A cloud of dust rise from the impact, masking whether Gaara dodged them or not. The Amegakure shinobi grins at his blind victory. But once the dust dissipates, the grin turns upside down.

Encasing Gaara in a shape of an egg is a thick barrier of sand with sebons stuck to its surface. A large crack down the middle of the shield reveals Gaara standing in the same spot and stance as before: arms crossed and legs apart, “Is that it?”

“What?... Not even one hit? He's unharmed?” the Amegakure shinobi takes a step back with sweat dripping down his face. He puts his hands together and forms another sign; more sebons attack the opening Gaara left, but a barrier of sand shoots up and protects him.

Gaara's expression turns vicious, “A rain of sebon, eh? Then, I'll make a rain of blood fall.”

Jingu becomes paralyzed with fear. She questions her teammates sanity for even staying this long. She takes the risk of breaking her cover and jumps down behind the trio. She pulls at Kiba's jacket. He turns to her, surprised, “Jingu?”

The others turn to her as well. She opens her mouth, but the words still fail to come out. She yanks at his sleeve and implies with gestures to get away.

Kiba raises an eyebrow, finding her not speaking strange, “Just a sec. We might learn something about the enemy here.”

Jingu is baffled by his response. Can he not sense the danger they are in? She looks at Akamaru and he is shivering with fear. Kiba is even ignoring his own dog's warnings. She turns to Shino and stares at him with pleading eyes. His eyebrows furrow then turns to Kiba, “Kiba, listen to Jingu-” a scream cuts him off.

The four of them return to the scene. The Amegakure shinobi's body is completely wrapped in sand that's cocoon shaped—his disgruntled face is the only part of him that's visible. The umbrellas pierce the ground around Gaara. He takes the one nearest him, “I can cover your loud mouth and kill you,” he unfolds it and raises it over his head, “but that would be too miserable on your side.”

He extends his arm and raises it above his head—the cocoon follows the motion. His open hand closes into a fist, “Desert Funeral.”

Nothing happens within the second that passes, but in the next there is an explosion of blood. Just as he said, he makes it rain thick red liquid. Kiba, Shino and Hinata are wrecked with fear, but Jingu is imbued with it. Her analytical eyes watched the man's face give no emotion as it happened; it was too quick for him to even feel the pressure of the sand squeezing the life out of him. She heard every bone crunch and every organ flatten.

The sand releases its hold and lets the corpse fall to the ground. Jingu's face turns numb and when she reaches for Kiba's sleeve again, her fingers can not feel the fabric rub against her skin. Even if she were able to use her voice, the only thing that would come out would be straining whines.

“The tears and blood of the dead mixes with an endless quicksand and further fuels the war,” Gaara speaks in the same leveled monotone voice.

“We'll give you the scroll,” the dead man's teammate sets down a scroll of heaven, “Please, let us go!”

Gaara tosses away the umbrella and raises both arms. Sand engulfs them just as it did with their comrade. Jingu watches tears well in their eyes, but Gaara crushes them both before they have the chance to fall.

“We've gotta run. He'll kill us if he finds us,” Kiba leads them away from the bloodbath.

“He knows,” Jingu halts at the sinister voice. She turns her head and her heart stops beating at the standstill image of death. His focus is entirely on her.

“I still haven't had enough.”

Jingu can feel her mind slip away. Her mouth stretches in a wide grin, but it is not her that's doing it. It feels eager and eerie. She watches her eyes blink and the next image she sees is a decrepit hand with long fingernails. She blinks again and its her normal hand. Her mind slips back into her body and notices Gaara's hand raised with sand gathering around it towards their direction. By instinct, Jingu stops time. 13 seconds.

Jingu pushes against the thick atmosphere with all her strength. For this one moment, she is able to plow through as if she were in a sea of water instead of molasses. She reaches her teammates and touches them. 10 seconds.

She turns her head and realizes she has created a sphere that surrounds only her and her team. Inside, it is still. Her breaths are nonexistent and her body is quiet. The silence is unlike anything she has ever experienced. As if for this very instant, nothing exists. 7 seconds.

Beyond the sphere, time is moving as usual. Sand continues to gather and turns into a cork in his hand. He pushes it inside the opening of his gourd. 3 seconds.

Jingu pushes herself to hold the barrier until they leave. 1 second.

They are gone.

0 seconds. She releases the barrier.

She gasps for air while the others look around in confusion. Shino observes Jingu then raises his eyebrows in realization, “Jingu. Did you-” Jingu's fist connects with the left side of Kiba's face. He falls back against the ground while holding his swelling cheek. 

“What the-”

“You idiot! Why the fuck would you stay after he killed the first guy? That wasn't a goddamn show. He was killing someone. You should have taken that queue to leave. At any rate, what in seven hells made you decide to come here in the first place?” she tries to get up but her legs won't allow her to move. Shino raises an arm to help her but she shrugs it away, “And you. Don't let him take over like that. That hot headed moron.”

Kiba raises his fist at her but Shino holds it back with one hand, “Kiba was in the wrong, but so were you. You met this guy before but never told us about him.”

Jingu looks away, “Tch.”

“Your five senses are extremely sensitive. Especially when it comes to sensing another person's nature. I know for a fact that you've known how dangerous he is.”

Jingu lets her arms fall limp at her sides.

“This is a Chuunin exam. It wouldn't be one if we weren't allowed to take risks,” Kiba remarks sharply.

Jingu raises her head just enough where she can see him, “You risked your team's life.”

“They could have stopped me if they wanted to. Learning about the enemy is part of being a shinobi. But if what Shino said were true—you withheld information from your own comrades,” he points an accusing finger at her.

“And what if I did tell you? That his name is Gaara and he's a crazed killer? You wouldn't have believed me until you saw it with your own eyes. In fact, you would have taken him on just to test out that theory, because you think you're hot shit.”

Kiba growls, “You bi-”

Shino grabs Kiba by the collar of his jacket and puts his face in front of his, “We would be dead if hadn't been for her saving _us_.”

Kiba smacks Shino's hand away, “Who's side are you on anyways?”

Shino is silent, but some of his insects begin to crawl up his face.

“Everyone,” Hinata's voice is barely audible, but everything stops as if she screamed at them, “There's another team coming towards us and-and we aren't in any condition to fight right now.”

Shino holds his gaze on Kiba and the insects retract below his collar, “We have what we need. Let's get to the tower.”

Everyone stands except for Jingu, whose legs still won't do as she says.

“Will you let me help?” Shino asks. Jingu responds by attempting to push herself off the ground on her own. Shino exhales strongly from his nose.

Her vision becomes blurry the more she pushes herself and soon her head becomes dizzy. Shino notices something is wrong when he watches her sway.

“Jingu?”

She mumbles under her breath, “I need help.”

Shino stoops to her level and puts her arm around his shoulders, and his other hand is placed on her waist.

“Release your transformation jutsu. It may help ease the stress on your body,” Shino advices.

“But-”

“Do it.”

Jingu sucks in a breath as she withholds a comment and in a puff of smoke, she is reverted to her natural female appearance. Her shoulder length hair, however, is let down and in her face. She tries to blow it out of the way, but to no avail. Hinata pushes back her dark hair behind her ears and as she does so, she grazes her cheek.

Hinata places a gentle hand on her forehead, “You're cold with sweat. And your skin is pasty. We have to hurry or you'll catch a fever.”

“I'll be alright,” Jingu grins.

Kiba keeps to himself behind the group, not saying a word.

Shino jumps on a tree branch and Hinata follows. Kiba stays behind for a few moments and Akamaru gives him a small bark.

“Yeah. I caught a scent of rotting flesh too.”


	4. I am you. You are me. We are one.

It's dark again and it's suffocating. There is nothing, but Jingu can almost feel the pressure pressing against her.

“A dream. A dream,” she repeats to herself, but the absence of anything existing is crippling her mentally.

She moves her foot and the big toe touches something hard and coarse. She retracts it in an instant. After a moment of hesitation she crouches down and extends a hand. She reaches out with the tips of her fingers and touches the rough texture before placing the palm of her hand on it. She rubs over it, feeling the grains of sand move between her fingers, then touches it with her other hand; enjoying the touch of it. She sticks her hand inside and can not feel a bottom. She pulls it out.

In the distance, there is a soft and small circular glow emitting from the sand. Her toes crunches and gathers the sand between them as she makes her way to the light. After several minutes she reaches it and attempts to stick her hand into the glowing grains. Before she is able to do so, lumps extrude the sand upward to reveal green leaf sprouts. It grows into a long stem with leaves and a red bud at the tip of it. The bud unwraps and transforms into a red tulip.

Jingu caresses the petals with the backside of her finger, then stops when her sense of smell awakens. She bends and takes a whiff of the flower-

Jingu whispers, “Blood.”

 

Jingu's first image is a gray ceiling. There are thin sheets covering her body which is lying on a bed that's less comfortable than the floor. She hears sniffing and something licking its lips. Akamaru runs his tongue along her cheek several times before she turns her head away.

“I'm good, thanks,” she grumbles. Akamaru barks with glee and before she even senses him, Shino is at her side.

“Feeling better?”

Jingu sits herself up and observes the room. It's dreary and monotone with only beds, a table and three chairs.

“A lot better, thanks. How long was I out for?”

“10 hours and 17 minutes.”

Jingu nods her head. Shino picks up a glass of water from the table behind him and hands it to her. She thanks him and drinks it in sips.

In the bed next to her, Hinata's small body is rolled up beneath thin sheets and sleeping soundly. Kiba however is nowhere to be found.

“Where's Kiba?” she asks with a little more force than she intended. Akamaru whines at the sudden wave of anger.

Shino answers the question with silence, then chooses another concerning topic, “Tell me about this Gaara.”

Jingu's glare subsides. With her fingernail, she taps the glass, “You were right. It was my mistake for not telling you guys. I guess I can't entirely blame Kiba,” she grimaces. Then something comes to mind and it's the perfect opportunity to ask.

“Why did he go after them in the first place?”

“He thought we could diminish the number of people passing the exam by taking away more scrolls.”

“What the hell,” she sighs away her frustration then pauses, returning to the matter at hand, “Gaara,” she shivers from just saying the name, “He's taken an interest in me, and not just as a rival. From what you've seen, you're probably aware of his lack of value with human life. In fact, I think he sees humans as his play things.”

“This was important to know.”

“I know! I just...,” she tugs on a few loose strands of her hair and considers explaining the strange phenomenons going on around her. If she were to pick and tell any of the people closest to her about this, it would be Shino. He dissects any situation before acting and takes anything under consideration. If possible, Izumo would have been her first choice, but his status as Chuunin takes on massive workloads and high ranking missions. Filling him in on any more than he already knows would only add stress; a dangerous thing to carry when going on missions. However, this isn't the time or place to explain this to anyone.

She settles on telling him something vague, but with truth, “I've been losing my focus on things.”

Shino is silent. His body eases as if he were about to say something but another voice intervenes, “Jingu-san,” Hinata's timid voice soothes the atmosphere. She leaves the bed and stands on the adjacent side of where Shino is, “You have to trust us. We're a team and are always there for you,” she pushes her pointer fingers against each other, “I-I mean we care about you.”

Jingu looks away with blood rising to her cheeks, “Yeah.”

The door to the room opens and Kiba strides in, “Man. No one other than the Sand people are here yet-,” he stops when he sees Jingu sitting up in her bed.

“You're up.”

“So sorry I wasn't kept in an eternal slumber.”

Kiba's mouth twitches then turns his head away, revealing his swollen cheek. Guilt strikes a chord within Jingu, but she stills it in an instant.

The silence gives weight to the still air. Shino and Hinata do not dare move as they observe the other two's actions.

Kiba chips the ice, “I'll... go get us something to eat.” As he turns back towards the doorway he adds under his breath, “If you can call cheap cup ramen and dango that.”

Before he shuts the door all the way he peaks his head out, “Akamaru?”

Akamaru tilts his head with a whimper and remains where he is on Jingu's bed.

“Tch,” Kiba slams the door shut.

Jingu strokes Akamaru's back, “Still spooked, huh?”

“We're probably further away from him in here,” Hinata adds.

Jingu continues to stroke Akamaru as she releases a heavy sigh. Someone needs to be the bigger person and apologize first, and Jingu gets the impression that she may have to be the one to do so. Kiba holds too much pride to take the first step, but she understands him well enough to say that he's holding as much guilt as she is.

“Jingu-san,” Hinata pulls her away from her thoughts, “We never had the chance to ask. What did you do to us during that time?”

Shino's head lifts above the high collar and listens closely.

“Oh...” Jingu thinks back on the new jutsu she performed, “I stopped time, then made my way to you guys. When I touched all of you I created a field that affected us only. Outside, time was moving like normal.”

“You were able to move more freely then?” Shino asks.

“Yeah. Like moving through water. It was... exhilarating and frightening at the same time.”

Hinata wonders out loud, “So that means you're time has increased.”

Jingu shakes her head, “I don't think so. Most of it was adrenaline.”

The room falls back into silence. Jingu realizes that she and Kiba have put their teammates in an awkward position, meaning that they have to settle their differences soon.

Someone whispers in the far dark corner of the room. The words are spoken quickly, jumbling them all together. It ascends into a harsh tone, then to an almost violent one. Startled, Jingu glances at the others, but no one seems to notice it.

It stops.

“Jingu-san,” Hinata's voice rings.

Jingu attempts to compose herself, “W-what?”

“I said that we're going to go look for Kiba. He's taking a long time.”

“Both of you?”

The others give Jingu a blank stare, so Jingu bounces back with another response, “I mean, yeah! Sure,” she doesn't mean for her voice to come out with uncertainty, but thankfully neither one notices.

“We'll be back,” Hinata says before exiting the room.

Shino stays at the doorway for a brief moment. He looks back at the dark corner Jingu had been staring at before shutting the door behind him.

The hush walls ring in her ears.

Akamaru releases a soft whine of worry towards Jingu who is averting her eyes to and from that dark corner. Then she hears a set of nails scratching the walls.

Akamaru's floppy ears rise. They hold in that position for several seconds before relaxing again.

The air is still again.

A pair of pale, dry lips appear behind Jingu. They curl back to reveal yellow and black crooked teeth, “He's ours.”

Jingu leaps off the bed while Akamaru relinquishes angry barks at the air. At the door, Jingu slides down to the floor while digging her fingers into her scalp.

“No. No. No,” she rocks back and forth on the balls of her feet, “No.”

 

The five day limit has passed. Team 8 is currently going down the stairs, to the first floor, where Anko had called them to.

“I hope Naruto made it so I can beat his ass.”

No one comments on this, but a hint of blush rises to Hinata's cheeks.

Shino slows his pace to be in step with Jingu's, who is lagging behind, “This thing between the both of you can't continue forever.”

“It's not my fault he's been avoiding me,” then she adds, “You guys told him something.”

“Your argument isn't our business.”

Jingu raises an eyebrow, “Right.”

On top of Kiba's head, Akamaru turns his head to give Jingu a worrisome expression. Jingu does a subtle shake of the head at him, then flashes a reassuring smile. Akamaru returns looking ahead, but his head sags onto his front paws as his body heaves a heavy sigh through his nose.

“What's wrong with Akakamaru?” Hinata asks Kiba, “Is it Gaara?”

“I don't think that's the case right now,” Kiba scratches his partner's head, “He's been feeling down ever since _she_ woke up,” there is a hint of disdain in his words.

“Kiba.”

Kiba flinches from Hinata's stern tone, “Sorry.”

“Things can't go on like this.”

“... I know.”

 

The room is massive—almost like an arena. Filling the front wall ahead is a statue of a pair of arms and hands posing a hand sign. Above it, on the top left corner, is a black screen embedded into the wall. Jingu observes the area above her and along the left and right walls are balconies with railings. And standing at the front and center of the room is the Third Hokage, dressed in his customary red kimono, tied in a white sash, and underneath a white haori. On his head is the white and red Hokage hat that bears the kanji for 'fire'.

There are six vertical rows of teams and Jingu's makes the seventh. She stands behind Shino, the only person making up the fourth horizontal row. She spots Naruto's orange outfit at the front and he is turning his head to observe everyone, until he catches Jingu.

“Ah?! Jingu is here? You were supposed to be in the hospital!” Naruto points a finger at her.

Everyone's shifting of clothes is louder than it should as they look her way. Jingu ignores their stares and keeps her focus on Naruto.

“Glad you made it too,” she grins.

“I knew it,” Shikamaru says.

“You were that weird guy who looked like he was participating by himself?” Ino is bewildered.

“Hm. So, you were with them the whole time,” a boy with bandaged arms and long brown hair speaks. Jingu notices his pale eyes, “Neji...” the name drips with venom. He turns away, losing interest in the situation.

Even the Jounin, forming a line behind the Third Hokage, make passing glances at Kurenai. She lifts her red lips into a smirk, taking in their astonishment.

Going through the rows up and down, on the second one to Jingu's right, is Gaara standing at the front. Only his head turned to observe her, and he does not find Jingu's appearance to be surprising at all. Jingu doesn't doubt that he saw through her disguise that time in the forest. He may have even seen passed it during the First Exam. Then it strikes her—his appearance. There isn't a speck of dirt on him. His body looks the same way as it did before he entered the Forest of Death. She recalls the barrier of sand that protected him from the Amagakure shinobi's attack and deduces that the sand held in his gourd is his main source for defense and offense. She wonders now if he controls it without the use of hand signs.

Referring to the First Exam, Ibiki is standing among other examiners to Jingu's left. To her right is another row of them including Anko. Izumo or Kotetsu aren't among them which Jingu finds it strange since their main job is right here: the Third Hokage. She wonders if something must have come up to leave their duty unguarded.

“This set-up seems a little strange,” Kiba reads Jingu's thoughts. She watches a normal bug fly past her and to the ground. In that moment she notices old stains of blood on the large tiled floor.

“First off,” Anko announces, “congratulations on passing the Second Exam. The Hokage will now explain the Third Exam. Everyone, listen well!”

The Hokage steps forward. He takes his pipe out of his mouth and blows a stream of smoke before speaking, “The Third Exam will begin. But before that, there is one thing I must make clear to all of you. It's about the true purpose of this exam and why we do a joint exam with allied nations. “To maintain good relations with the allied nations” and “heighten the level of the shinobi”... Do not let those reasons deceive you.”

Jingu's jaw clenches at the direction this is heading.

“This “exam” so to speak is the epitome of a war between the allied nations.”

A wave of concern among the examinees flood the room. Jingu can feel her feet sinking into the floor.

“The allied nations now were countries that have fought each other over and over again. To avoid wasting military power, those countries decided to choose a place to fight... The Chuunin Exam.”

“So you mean this exam doesn't select Chuunins?” Naruto asks.

The Hokage holds his pipe, “Yes, this Exam does examine those who are worthy of Chuunin title. But it is also a place where shinobi fight and carry their country's dignity. Feudal lords, potential clients, and shinobi leaders are invited to view your battles. The exams reveal the strength and growth of the country's military powers and to put foreign pressure on others,” he releases another stream of smoke, “This is an exam where you fight with your life on the line, but it holds meaning: to maintain balance. That is the good relation in the world of shinobi,” he completes.

Everyone soaks in the Hokage's words and most are accepting of it. Jingu's fists are clenched into tight fists and her lips rise in a terrible scowl. She feels like a sacrifice for the sake of politics and a spectacle for those high and mighty feudal lords. They're just moving sacks of money to them in the arena as far as Jingu is concerned. It would have been fair if they were told of their intentions before she would have accepted the exam, and not with the fictitious belief of it just being an examination to become a higher level of shinobi. It is taking every ounce of Jingu's being to not storm out of the tower, but she needs to consider her team and sensei.

Only one voice rises as a response to the explanation and it is spoken in a disapproving tone, “I don't care. Tell us the details of this life-or-death exam,” Gaara says.

Jingu is mildly surprised he spoke at all, but it shows he lacks any patience or that he's just that desperate to kill something.

The Hokage nods his head and summons a shinobi before him, “Please explain to them what is happening.”

The shinobi stands and faces the examinees. Jingu whispers his name without thinking, “Hayate.”

As if he heard his name being called, Hayate glances at Jingu and offers a curt nod of acknowledgment. The young man wears the Konoha forehead protector as a bandana, like Izumo, and his eyes sag with dark circles. He coughs once. Then coughs again. In his teens, Jingu recalls that he's always carried an unknown condition in his body that the medical-nin have no answers or cure for. From what Izumo has told her, he fights and keeps up just as well with any other shinobi of his Jounin class.

“I am Gekkou Hayate. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Everyone, before the Third Exam there's something I want you to do,” he coughs again and this time it's consistent. They echo across the restrained room, making the tension in the room less palatable.

Once the attack ceases, he continues, “Ehh. Fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle.”

Shikamaru leaves no room for contemplation on this, “Preliminary matches? What do you mean?”

Now Jingu understands what this room is—it _is_ an arena.

“In this case, it must have been because the First and Second Exam were too easy, I don't know. But the regulations for the Chuunin exam calls to decrease the numbers of participants for the Third Exam if there are too many. If there is anyone who wants to quit after hearing this explanation, please let me know. The preliminary matches will begin immediately-”

“Immediately?!” Kiba interjects with anger.

“Oh. I forgot to mention this,” Hayate ignores the commotion, “There will be one-on-one matches from here on out. So again, please withdraw if you wish.”

Jingu's arm strains at her side as she refrains from raising it. This wasn't what she asked for when she chose to follow in her older brother's footsteps. It's a disgrace to fight among others as a source of entertainment to a bunch of rich fools and military heads like animals on the market. Her abilities are only for the country and the people she loves who reside in it.

She sucks in a deep breath, then releases it. She has to take the bitter medicine so she won't embarrass her team. This seems to be the only way to advance above Genin level as well, so even if she quits now she would be returning to the same situation.

Her arms relax.

Hayate waits for anyone willing to raise their hand, but no one does. He coughs, “Very well. Since we have 22 people, there will be 11 matches and the winners will advance to the Third Exam. There are no rules. You will fight until the person dies, knocked out or surrenders. However, if I judge the match is over, I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths,” he coughs again as he gestures towards the black screen on the wall, “The electric bulletin board will be what holds your destiny. It will randomly display two fighters for each match,” he faces the participants again, “I will now commence the first match.”

The names of all the participants goes by in a yellow blur on the screen, until it stops on two names: Kamizuki Jingu vs Yakushi Kabuto.

Shino's body shifts to look at her from the side. His slender eye is visible to Jingu and she can read the hint of worry in it. Jingu isn't surprised that he's been catching wind of her strange behavior as of late, and is most likely concerned if her thoughts are all in one place at the moment.

“Those whose names were displayed, step up,” Hayate announces.

Jingu places a reassuring hand on Shino's shoulder as she steps forward. She passes Hinata's confident expression to which Jingu nods her head at. Kiba ignores her presence passing by him, but Akamaru whines. Once she is in front of him, he says in almost a hum, “Be careful.”

Jingu smiles and makes a promise to herself to mend their differences once this is all over.

Her and Kabuto face each other in front of Hayate. Jingu recognizes the white haired man talking to the other Genin at the start of the First Exam. Is she remembers correctly, he was showing cards off to them, but she was too far away to see what was on them. She doubts those are his weapons, however.

“The fighters for the first match are Kamizuki Jingu and Yakushi Kabuto. Are there any objections?”

Kabuto pushes up his round spectacles, “None.”

The word 'yes' is on the tip of her tongue. Her motivation for the Chuunin Exams is almost down to zero. What little care she has left comes from her team's expectations for her.

“No,” she forces out.

Hayate coughs, catching her somber tone. Jingu slides a glance at him and narrows her eyes. Masking his concern, he continues, “Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up there.”

As everyone, including the senseis, make their way to the balconies, Kurenai stops behind Jingu, “Try not to use too many of your seconds on this match. You don't look too good and may collapse before the match finishes.”

“Gotcha.”

Kurenai follows her team to the balcony. As they wait for everyone to be situated, Jingu analyzes Kabuto's body. He is matted with dirt and sweat stains, but there isn't a scratch on him which she finds hard to believe; unless it's Gaara. She glances at his hands, “Hm.”

“Begin,” Hayate says.

Jingu jumps back to keep some distance between them. She doesn't know for sure, but she has an inkling of a feeling that this man is a close-combat type. She throws several kunai at him to test the waters. He pulls out his own kunai and deflects each of them with ease and he follows it with a smirk. He runs towards Jingu and throws the kunai. She moves her head out of the way, but when she does, there is another kunai coming towards her. There is no way to dodge it unless...

Jingu chooses to allow herself fall flat on the ground to dodge it. She does a back roll and stands herself up in an instant. Kabuto is making calculating attacks, almost forcing her to use her technique. Does he know what it is, or is he speculating—waiting for her to use some sort of special ability? Jingu considers that he may eventually force her hand to do so, whether it be intentional or not at this rate.

Kabuto runs to her and this time throws a fist. Jingu dodges, but he follows up with another one. Jingu watches his shoulders and feet move to read and counter his attacks. After growing accustomed to his movements, to Jingu his attacks have slowed at a tremendous rate. She stops his fist with her hand then she pushes his foot more inward to make him unbalanced—throwing off his following attack. As he trips, Jingu elbows the back of his neck, causing him to hit the ground hard.

Jingu steps out of the way and flexes her hand to grab a kunai, but a shooting pain extends the length of her arm. She clenches her teeth at the burning sensation in the inside center of her hand. She feels it with her thumb and finds the tendon is missing or ripped. Jingu lets her useless hand hang at her side as she watches Kabuto stand up. Her hunch was correct: he is some sort of a medical-nin, thus why he has no wounds. When she grabbed his fist, he did something to her and he did so without the use of any hand signs. She studies him further once he is on his feet and adjusts his glasses as if nothing has happened.

His level is beyond that of a Genin, Jingu deduces. Meaning he is way beyond her ability to beat. Kabuto stretches a leering smile that worries her.

He disappears.

Jingu sucks in a breath of air to calm her nerves, then closes her eyes to track his movements. Her ears open to anything. The rustle of clothes, a faint heartbeat, a breath of air. But nothing.

Then she catches a remote sound of his spectacles moving from behind her on her right side where her injured arm is. If she whips her left arm there would still be time for him to counter it, then attack her. She opens her eyes.

He's forced her in a corner, so now she must use it. She closes her eyes again, but never leaves the darkness.

“What? Where am I?” Jingu inhales a scent of rotting meat and gags and coughs from it.

“Stupid girl. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,” the tone becomes more harsh after the last, “That snake knows something. But I won't let him have it. I won't. I won't!”

Jingu doesn't understand. There is an edge to the woman's words with an intent to kill. She swallows and asks, “Kabuto?”

The woman cackles, “He's nothing. I speak of the snake who's skin has taken shape of one of our superiors.”

Snake. Snake. Jingu is at a loss. But the fight. She needs to continue it. She was going to stop time-

“NO,” a hand reaches out from the darkness and chokes Jingu, “He mustn’t see.”

Jingu claws at the woman's rotting body and catches some of it under her fingernails. The stench it emanates brings tears to her eyes.

“We must push him away.” The old woman considers something for a moment, “I'll do it,” she cackles, “It may also awaken something within that evil boy again. Perfect boy.”

Jingu is about to lose consciousness, but the woman releases her before she does so.

There is a faint light and Jingu can see the arena again, however she doesn't feel herself; as if she's observing someone else taking control of her body. It turns to face Kabuto and the blood drains from his face. The hand where her tendon was ripped, raises and back hands against his left cheek. Jingu can hear the bones crunching before he is sent flying across the room.

Jingu's head doesn't follow Kabuto's movements to where he landed, and only listens to the heavy thump of his body landing on the floor.

Jingu's thoughts scream, 'You killed him!'

She can feel her cheeks rise into what she thinks is a smile, “His heart still beats.”

In that moment, Jingu can feel pain in her hand, but she is too exhausted to scream. Her body collapses against the floor.

“Jingu!” Kiba shouts.

A hand rests on her back, “Jingu,” Kurenai's voice is etched with unease.

Hayate's voice comes but fades. She hears nothing but the beating of her own heart. Tears well in her eyes and trickle down her face. For the first time since she's experienced these happenings, Jingu questions her sanity.

The last thing she hears is the woman's voice, “I am you. You are me. We are one.”


	5. Shattered Image

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Sorry it took so long to punch out a new chapter. College life = busy life and it's first priority in my books. Anywhoo. Enjoy.

A chill runs through Jingu's body and she reacts with a shutter. She bends her arm and a bruising pain emits from inside her elbow. She observes it and there is an iv inserted into her vein. As she pushes herself up into a sitting position the impact of her right hand against the mattress causes a shooting pain that courses the length of her arm. She exclaims a short scream and brings her bandaged hand to her face.

“Careful with it. It hasn't fully healed.”

Shino is sitting beside her watching one of his insects crawl around his finger.

“I got that.” She tests the hand by closing it into a fist but can only go half way before it burns.

“How are you feeling?” His attention is now entirely on her.

“Okay, I think.”

She searches her memories as far back as she can remember: the Chuunin Exam and her battling Kabuto. She draws a blank after she begins her Time Manipulation Jutsu and can't remember if she had won or not.

“Did I win?”

Shino shakes his head, “It was a draw. Both of you passed out at the same time.”

“Really? I can't remember.” She turns her head and a soreness extends around her neck. With the tips of her fingers she touches the area and feels a bandage wrapped around it. She can't recall injuring her neck.

“How did I-”

A mental image of the old woman's face. The fear of seeing her and talking to her returns the missing memories. She is certain that the woman took control of her body and may have done something to Kabuto. She cannot remember what.

“Kabuto! How is he?”

Shino jolts in surprise, but he answers simply, “He was put in the infirmary after the match. I don't know what became of him, but I'm certain he's alive.”

Jingu sighs a relief. Although this is the Chuunin Exams, she would hate to have the blood of someone from her own nation on her hands.

“I don't remember much of what happened during the end of the match. Did Kabuto strike me at the neck?”

Shino presents only his profile to Jingu. She swallows a lump in her throat from the hard stare he is emitting from his naked eye.

“Those bruises were self-inflicted.”

Jingu does not give an immediate response. The weight of his words haven't driven through her skull. She asks with genuine confusion, “What?”

Shino fully turns his head to her, making his expression unreadable to Jingu due to the glasses. He struggles to say something but goes against saying anything further. He stands and begins to exit the room.

“Wait! What about Kiba and Hinata? What about their matches?”

“Kiba lost to Naruto. His injuries weren't severe. Hinata lost to Neji. She's still in the hospital, but is recovering well.”

“And... you?”

“I'm fighting in the final match,” he exits the room with that.

Jingu takes a moment to process his information in the still silence of the empty room—then it hits her.

“Hinata fought Neji?!”

Jingu flings the sheets away and grabs onto the cool metal of the iv stand with her good hand. She rolls it with her as she makes her way to the two-door armoire at the opposite side of the bed. She takes her pants and puts them on before exiting the room herself.

The hall to her left and right are empty and Shino is nowhere in sight.

“Should have asked him where Hinata is.”

A door opens down the hall to her right. A young girl with long brown hair and a face that resembles Hinata, steps out with her.

“Hinata!” Jingu jogs down the hall with the sound of wheels from the iv stand rolling across the tiled floor.

“Jingu-san!” Hinata is enthused to see her.

The two hug and Jingu winces from the pain in her hand.

Hinata did not fail to notice, “I'm so sorry! How are your injuries.”

“Nothing to worry about. And you! Shino told me you fought Neji.”

A frown sets on Hinata's cream features for only a moment before raising her head with a determination in her eyes that Jingu had never seen before.

“Yes! I lost, but I feel I have become stronger.”

Jingu pats her shoulder, “I can sense that you have. I'm sorry I couldn't see it. I'm sure you gave it all you had.”

“No. I fought all the more harder for your sake as well.”

An endearing laugh erupts from Jingu, but then she because coy, “As well? Naruto watched the whole battle, right?”

Hinata does her best to avoid Jingu's face.

“Naruto?” Hanabi asks.

“Hinata! Keeping secrets from your sister,” Jingu tsk's a few times, “Well, if you must know-”

Two hands move in one swift motion to cover Jingu's mouth, “S-s-stop!” Hinata pleads.

Jingu removes Hinata's hands and a grin is plastered on her face, “Sorry. I'll stop. I'll stop.”

“A-anyway,” Hinata's feathers have smoothed out, “I'm happy to see that you're doing well. You had me worried.”

Jingu tilts her head, “What do you mean?”

Hanabi interjects, “Neesan told me you were pretty bad ass in your match. That you punched a guy so hard he went flying across the stage.”

“Hanabi! Sh!” Hinata raises her voice a pang.

Jingu laughs, “Yeah right! Not even Gai-sensei has that kind of natural strength.”

She eases her laugh at Hinata's looming silence.

“Hinata?” Jingu presses for an explanation.

Hinata averts her gaze from Jingu and tries to explain, “During the match you started to hurt yourself a-and...,” she takes a deep breath, “For a moment I didn't recognize you. That was when you punched Kabuto-san. You passed out right after.”

Jingu touches her neck, “You mean I-” she doesn't finish her sentence and hears Shino's voice echo in her head: _“Those bruises were self-inflicted.”_

“I don't remember.”

What she does remember is the old woman chocking her, and that occurred in her head—it wasn't real.

“What does this mean?”

Jingu begins to doubt her very being and the person she calls “Jingu.” That there is a possibility that the person she sees in the mirror everyday is not “Jingu” but a cover up or an imaginary being to hide a dark entity that has been lying dormant. And the old woman is an image that represents that person's malice. Who she is now isn't real. Then what is? Who is Jingu?

“Jingu-san?”

Jingu feels empty; a body without a soul, a shell without its snail, a present without a gift.

She goes to the direction of her room. Hinata continues to call her, but she does not hear.

Her hand is building sweat and it keeps sliding down the metal pole. Jingu rips off the tape that has been holding the iv in her arm in place and pulls out the needle.

Blood streams down her arm from the small hole. As she walks she leaves a trail of blood that continues to drip from her fingertips.

She goes inside her room and stands in front of the window.

The reflection she sees is of a girl. Jingu blinks. The girl blinks at the same time. Jingu's hands grip the window's frame, smearing blood on it, and her body tenses. She grits her teeth to combat the tears that want to fall. Her body turns weak and her head hangs in submission to the tears. They fall. And fall. And fall.

She lifts her head and her reflection is of the old woman with gouged eyes, blood and all. She releases a chilling scream that has Jingu scream with fear in turn.

She runs to the armoire and hides inside it, clutching her head as if she were trying to pull the hair out of her head.

Bare feet strikes the floor fast and edges closer to the armoire, then halts.

The presence is pressing even if Jingu cannot hear anything. Between the crack of the doors there is nothing. The silence is suffocating and all Jingu can do is wait.

The doors swing open and the shadow of a figure with wide shoulders casts over her crouched body. She takes the risk of confronting it and what she sees makes her heart stop with relief.

“Izumo!” she leaps out of the armoire and wraps her arms around his neck. He carries her to the bed and has her sit on his lap.

“Why'd you rip out the iv?”

He takes her arm and presses the cuff of his long sleeve to the inside of her elbow. With his other hand he smooths her hair, soothing away the penetrating forces that lurks in the far corners of Jingu's mind; afraid of the warm light that her brother emanates. Even if she doubts the person she is, all her faith can be placed in Izumo.

Izumo places a hand on her shoulder and pushes her off his chest so they can see the faces of one another.

“Were you crying in the armoire?” he touches her lower eyelids and feels her moist eyelashes with his thumb.

She rubs her eyes with the palm of her hand, “Just upset about losing in the preliminary match.”

“That was a bit unfair wasn't it? But it's the rules.”

Jingu only nods.

“Speaking of which, what's been going on? Hayate has told me some things that don't sound like you.”

Jingu's free arm slides off from around his neck, “Niichan, what if... what if the Jingu we know isn't her?”

“What? That doesn't make any sense.”

Jingu remains silent and does not push the subject any further. She courses it to another direction, “She keeps coming back. That woman.”

Izumo holds his head in the palm of his hand and puts on an expression compared to someone with a migraine.

“I think it's time to see someone about this.”

Jingu turns away and clenches her fists to force a question she wishes to never know the answer to, “What do you think is wrong with me?”

“I don't know. That's why we should-”

“No! What do you see when I-I,” she doesn't even know what to call the things she's been experiencing, “have these phenomenons?”

His chest heaves a heavy sigh. His eyes are closed to search for the right words to not hurt Jingu, and she understands this.

“Tell me exactly what you see.”

Although determination shapes her features, Izumo can sense how unprepared she is to hear whatever he will be saying. But it's not something he should lie about. Not to his sister.

“I don't see you. Or hear you. It's another person entirely.”

The last shred of belief in herself is gone. Nothing is left.

“Not me,” she mumbles, “Not me.”

Izumo listens to her words with care, then his eyebrows come together when he catches a subtle realization.

“'What if the Jingu we know isn't her?' is what you said.”

Jingu's profile is hidden behind a curtain of her hair and when Izumo reaches to tuck some of it behind her ear she inches away. He does not dare think any further on those words, afraid to find some truth in them.

“Will you let me help you?”

“Do whatever.”

Now he regrets having had said anything at all.

“I know someone who specializes in human psychology. In fact, you're well acquainted with him,” Izumo tries to lighten the mood, but he gains no reaction from her.

“I've got to go. Will you be alright by yourself? I can have Kotetsu stop by later.”

Don't leave.

“I'll be fine. Kotetsu can't afford to skip out on anymore of his duties, anyways.”

Izumo lifts her small body from his lap and tucks her into bed. He kisses her head. “Love you.”

Jingu's mouth remains a straight line and her eyes do not make contact with his as they stare at the ceiling. Once the door closes shut, Jingu stifles a sob into her hands.

On the ceiling is the woman clinging on to it by the nails of her hands and feet. The skin of her arms and legs stick to her bones, making her appearance match that of a spider's. Her clothes are ripped and stained with blood. She grins with black teeth and black drool falls from her mouth and onto Jingu's sheet.

“I am you. You are me,” her voice cracks.

Jingu shuts her eyes tight. When she opens them, the woman is gone and her sheet is clean.  
  


* * *

 

  
“I feel so sorry for the boy,” says one of the nurses at the counter.

Jingu is checking out of the hospital and signing all the necessary paperwork as best she can with her left hand. Her ears open to the discussion the nurses are having...

“I hear he may never fight again.”

The other nurse responds, “These Chuunin Exams are brutal. You know people die from these things? How do non-shinobi parents cope with such a thing?”

“I know I would never let my child participate.”

Jingu interrupts, “May I take a look at the medical bills?”

“Oh, you've already been paid for.”

“What? By whom?”

The nurse sitting beside the one who spoke goes through some papers, but before she is able to find a name someone leans against the counter.

“I did.”

Wild black hair is the first thing that Jingu sees, “Kotetsu.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“You didn't have to do that.”

Kotetsu dismisses her comment with a wave of his hand, “Come on. Your brother is busy, so I'll be taking you home.”

Jingu does not greet the comment with much pleasure. Even during her episodes and personal conflicts, she can sense something amiss with Izumo. The night he visited her there were bags under his eyes, a strain in voice to make himself sound attentive, and she felt slight vibrations in his body; meaning he has been keeping himself on guard. Something has been going on among the Chuunins and Jounins and it has been occurring during the start of the second Chuunin Exam.

Without a word, Jingu leads Kotetsu out of the hospital and the two walk in silence.

Kotetsu is covered from neck to ankles with the common navy blue top and pants. His head, hands, and sandled feet are the only things exposed for Jingu to discern. His jaw is locked and beneath it she can tell the muscles in his neck are strained. His arms appear loose the way they swing by his sides like normal, but his right hand twitches every so often when it goes over his kunai pouch.

Jingu takes a nonchalant approach, “Why aren't _you_ with Izumo?”

“He doesn't seem to need me at the moment.”

“You mean you ran away from your duties.”

“I take offense to that...”

“Kotetstu.”

Jingu's tone sounds like it bears a serious accusation. However, Kotetsu discerns it with a heavier meaning and his jester's mask wears off. He is tired, beaten and taking Jingu home is hardly a break for him. He is pushing his body to the limit while staying on high alert.

This topic isn't meant for Jingu to hear or should even be brought up. She is not one to meddle into her brother's, and indirectly the Chuunin's, affairs, but things have been far too weird for her to let slide. She whispers, “What's going on? Is it really that serious?”

“We don't know much for sure... yet. Someone who isn't supposed to be here managed to slip through as an examinee for the Chuunin Exam. That's all I can say on the matter right now.”

Jingu is still skeptical on the matter, “But that's something the Anbu can take care of easily. You guys have been working yourselves to the bone.”

Kotetsu considers his options for a moment. Telling Jingu may prove to be a great help because of her unique abilities of reading situations in an instant, but Izumo has been relaying to him her recent instability.

“Just be careful with the people from Otagakure. Shino is battling one of them in the final match, correct?”

“That's what Kurenai-sensei told me...”

Kotetsu is able to switch topics without flaw and Jingu's worries fade into blatant irritation.

He continues, “Izumo wanted me to tell you that he won't be home for a while and to take a break from training. At least until the Chuunin Exams are over. Got it?”

“Right,” Jingu remembers that Izumo wanted her to see someone to help her, “Did he mention anything else?”

“No... Oh wait. He did mention that someone will be coming by sometime this month. For sure before the tournament begins.”

“What? So, I have to be home?”

Without a proper date and time, Jingu is chained to her home.

Kotetsu laughs which gives Jingu some pause for concern as to who this person is exactly.

“Nah. You don't have to be home.” A hawk caws and flies over head. Kotetsu's shoulders sink for a mere instant, but then his posture straightens—gaining new strength, “Duty calls. Be good.”

He lifts his hand up with a hand sign and in a puff of smoke, the man is gone.

Jingu holds her chin, “Otagakure.”

If she would have known about their suspicions sooner, she could have kept an eye on them during the Chuunin Exams.

“Shino can beat the pulp outta whoever.”

Jingu halts in front of an apartment building. On the third floor there is a door with the number 306. She can imagine the pile of mail once she opens it and thin layers of dust accumulating over the furniture. If Izumo would come home to that, he would go on a cleaning frenzy and certainly die from exhaustion.

She turns on her heel and heads down an unknown route to an unknown location. Based on the patterns, her episodes tend to occur when she is not in a populated area. If she returns home now, the woman will more than likely make an appearance. Jingu ponders if these happenings occur based on her state of mind. When she's in a state of hopelessness or when she thinks she has a security of mind, the woman appears. In her fight with Kabuto, however, the woman seemed more real than ever. She was desperate for Jingu not to reveal her Time Manipulation Jutsu.

Jingu considers that her body maybe didn't want to suffer from another straining use of her abilities, and therefore rejected it. Hinata, Shino and Kurenai mentioned her amazing use of strength, to which she still cannot remember using. That is a matter she has no explanation for. If she thinks even further back, there was that dream with Naruto and Sasuke in it. That may be the only good thing that has happened to her thus far.

Jingu takes in her surroundings for a moment and finds herself in the busy market district. She finds an empty bench and watches the people going from stall to stall inspecting food and valuables, and negotiating with the stall owners. Among them is a child holding his mother's hand. Wrapped around his head is a blue cloth with the Konoha symbol poorly drawn on its center. Jingu returns to the conversation with the two nurses in the hospital. Becoming a shinobi is the child's choice and they do it knowing their lives are on the line. Is it right for them to die simply because they aren't strong enough? They aren't even given a chance to prove their worth for the sake of their village.

Jingu shakes her head. If she dwells on the matter any more, she's going to end up questioning her beliefs as a shinobi.

“What was it Hinata told me?” Jingu crosses her arms over her chest, “'I'm not gonna run away and I never go back on my word, that is my nindō.'”

Jingu stares at the cloudless sky overhead, “It's as clear as his resolve,” Jingu smiles, “You chose quite a boy, Hinata.”

She closes her eyes and takes care to block the loud chattering from the market and focus on the cool winds, chirping birds, and humming insects. Izumo said no training, but Jingu will take her chances if it's meant to relax her body and mind.

A dog panting and a presence standing beside her sits itself down on the bench. Jingu gives the person a sly glance.

Kiba is in a more casual jacket, without the fur and hoodless, revealing his short, messy brown hair. Akamaru is zipped up beneath the front of his jacket, exposing only his head and two small front paws.

In return to Jingu's narrowed eyes, Kiba offers her the same greeting. A large frown is set on his features and he turns away, flustered. His body is heaving heavy breaths as he attempts to speak as much as his tongue wills him to.

Jingu exhales through her nose and beats him to the punch, “I'm sorry.”

Kiba stops and faces her with rage, “At least let me talk first! Now I don't feel like saying it!”

Jingu teases him with a chuckle that bears insult, “No need to force yourself. I get it. Some of your pride died a little inside after losing to Naruto.”

Kiba growls in irritation, “Why you... That doesn't have to do with anything at all! I only came here to-to...”

He whips his head away and stomps his foot, “You always make things so difficult.”

Jingu rubs her bandaged hand with a bit of remorse, “You don't need to apologize. It was all my fault. I haven't been feeling myself lately and it's been effecting my actions,” she bows her head, “I'm truly sorry.”

Kiba waves his hands in the air in disapproval, “Stop it! You were right. I was being rash and stupid. I'm sorry.”

Jingu lifts her head and raises her arm. Kiba takes her hand into his and they shake on it.

“Now Hinata has one less thing to worry about,” Jingu laughs.

“I thought Shino was pissed, but I think she may have been more angry about it,” Kiba shudders from a memory.

After they release their hands Kiba's luster dims. He can see the strain in her smile and the pain in her eyes. Her apology is genuine, he knows for a fact, but there are other things weighing down on her mind and it's having a negative effect on her. Her hair is down and barely brushed, her clothes are plain with only an oversized shirt and capris, and dark circles are under her eyes. Akamaru senses Kiba's concern and whines.

“How are you doing?” he asks.

“Great!” she forces, “I may take the month off though. Are you helping Shino train?”

“Yeah. Everyday. But he's taking it like a champ as always.”

“That's good. Sorry I can't help.”

“No worries. You need the rest. Which I should be asking: shouldn't you be home?”

“I need the fresh air instead of being cooped up at home.”

Kiba nods his head and somewhat believes her, “Well, I've got to go do some chores at home. See ya.”

“Bye.”

Kiba hesitates to leave from her somber farewell. Fear reached out and grabbed him for a quick moment, but Jingu's expression has not faltered since he arrived. He resorts to it being his imagination and continues on his way while waving goodbye to her. Akamaru however turns his head and keeps a sorrowful gaze on Jingu.

Once Kiba turns behind a corner, Jingu brings her knees up and wraps her arms around her legs. Her forehead presses against them and falls asleep in that position.  
  


* * *

 

  
The afternoon turns to night and the stalls are all closed and the streets less busy.

Jingu's eyes are red and swollen. Shadows are now appearing in her peripheral vision making her senses go haywire. She jumps to a stand and continues down the street to find a busier place.

She strolls into an area with late night restaurants and bars, and it is loud and cheerful. The atmosphere eases Jingu's spirits and she now remembers that she hasn't had a meal all day. The smell of ramen wafts through the air and her stomach begins to yearn for it. The white flaps that spell out Ramen Ichiraku in red font is the first thing to make her mouth water. As she nears the stall the world shuts off its light. There is no breeze. No sound. And Jingu doesn't feel the ground beneath her feet. A thin strip of white strikes her eyes and she follows it as her only lead out of her consciousness. 

The light is escaping through a hole the size of her fist and she looks through it: in a first person perspective she is watching her own arms rise and fall in front of her and her body moving on its own accord. The location is no where she is familiar with and may be far away from the restaurants. She is high up on a traditional Japanese tiled roof and directly below the full moon. Her head moves and below, on the porch of another traditional building are two figures. One of them she can clearly make out to be Kabuto. His body is in perfect condition making it seem that his battle with Jingu to be entirely false.

He is talking to a man with his face half covered in cloth and his forehead protector has the Sunagakure symbol. They speak in hushed tones, unable for Jingu to make out their conversation. Another figure arrives and hides behind a wall, eavesdropping. Jingu recognizes the hairstyle and the slouch in his body—Hayate.

Their conversation closes to an end and the two of them mark their attention to the wall Hayate is hiding behind. Although Kabuto is a shinobi from Konohagakure, the isolated location, choosing the evening to speak and in whispers can only mean they are conspiring something. Otherwise, there would be no need for Hayate to be secretive and he's the one Jingu is putting her trust in the most.

The man's body from Sunagakure tenses as if he were preparing himself for battle. A sudden realization befalls Jingu when she notes the killing intent in the man's eyes.

“Hayate!” she shouts. Her voice echoes across the still blackness of her mind, unable to reach him. She shuts her eyes tight to force her physical body to move, but nothing happens. She closes her eyes again but her expression is more calm.

“Time Manipulation Jut-, ” she stops, short on breath. Jingu claws at her throat and chest, but nothing is holding her. Her mouth attempts to suck in what air she can but nothing comes in. Her eyes begin to bulge and circulation has been cut from her head. Then whatever force that has been strangling her releases itself. Jingu gasps and sucks in as much air her lungs can contain.

Hayate is the first to flee and the other man pursues. Jingu's body goes limp and her knees go weak, but she holds her ground to continue spying on Kabuto. He takes a glimpse at the taller building beside the one Jingu's body is on, and disappears in a blink of an eye. Jingu prays that Hayate returns to safety.

Her head turns to the taller building whose roof is in shambles. Jingu is cautious but her body goes against her wishes and leaps onto it. There is a large crevice of removed and broken tiles that's deep enough to reveal the wooden beams. Amidst the mess is a mangled body with its limbs twisted and broken at several places. On one of its arms is a large metal bulb with several holes in it, and laying beside the body is a blood stained forehead protector of Otagakure. Jingu comes up with a vague image of the man from the Chuunin Exam: face mostly covered in bandages and revealing only one eye.

At the other end of the trail of destruction is a single figure that has Jingu's blood run cold.

“Gaara.”

The wind carries his white sash and ruffles his red hair. His skin brightens against the pale moonlight and his eyes glimmer with blood lust as he holds his gaze in Jingu's direction.

“He's prefect,” the voice is loud and sounds as if Jingu is hearing it from underwater. It matches the old woman's voice but is less raspy and more feminine.

Jingu's body appears before Gaara in a fraction of a second. His surprised eyes fill Jingu's vision and Jingu's hands grasp the sides of his face. The youthful skin deteriorates into wrinkles and popping veins. Beads of sweat accumulate at Gaara's forehead as his face turns red from the struggle and anger from being unable to move his body. Whips of sand strike Jingu's body, but it bears no effect.

Then the old woman appears beside Jingu's non-physical form. Her smile is mischievous as she cracks her head to the side.

“Step aside, child,” she extends her fleshless hand towards Jingu's head, but Jingu steps away from her.

“What are you doing? What do you want from him?”

The woman chuckles, “Are you concerned for his well being?”

Jingu frowns.

“I thought so. Worry not. I guarantee your safety since we can not live without the other.”

Jingu does not care for Gaara, but she cares even less for this heinous creature. If Gaara is a piece to this thing's mysterious scheme, then she plans to ruin it.

Jingu watches the woman glance at the hole behind her and understands the basis of her intention from that single motion, “Forget it, bitch.”

Jingu sticks her hand through the opening and closes her eyes. She concentrates on her fingers. Hand. Arm. Then the rest of her body. She has regained control. But when she opens her eyes, she is in another dark place with a sickly green glow. She takes a step back and there is a splash of water. Beneath her feet, the ground is all covered in shallow water.

“What the?” the area is unfamiliar and she feels like a stranger who stepped into someone's home without permission. When she is subdued within her own mind, it is familiar and almost home-like. This place is beyond her.

“How did you get in here?”

Monotonous. Husky. Piercing. Jingu takes a fast turn and goes into a defensive stance.


	6. Insania

“Where am I?” she orders Gaara without thinking of any consequence.

When he narrows his eyes at her, she wishes she hadn't made such a baseless demand.

Jingu takes her chance on his apathetic demeanor to think more on their situation. Instead of asking a single question he could have performed a surprise attack and killed her in an instant. She can only conclude his lack of action being that they are in fact not in the physical world. And the sensation of unfamiliarity could only mean she is not within her consciousness anymore, but Gaara's. This is what the old woman meant to do and Jingu is proud of herself for finally putting a dent on her schemes (whatever they may be). Now there's the question of escaping, and Gaara may be her only lead out.

He cannot harm her in here, but it doesn't ease Jingu's sense of safety. Even when her defensive stance laxes her muscles remain tense. She cannot forget that his sensei was conspiring something with Kabuto, a shinobi from Konohagakure, and Hayate may be in danger because of some information he heard. Gaara is no longer a rival or a threat to her and her companion's lives—he is an enemy. Jingu must not falter here.

She sums up her courage, “I don't know how I got in here. It wasn't really...” she cannot say if it was or wasn't her. Explaining the situation that had just conspired may only appear to be an excuse to him and confuse matters further since she doesn't understand them well herself. Jingu scratches her head at her dilemma. There really is no explanation she can give and Gaara's silence is far from that of patience. It stalks behind every one of Jingu's thoughts making it more difficult for her to think.

A scowl graces her features when she considers the amount of bad luck that has occurred since she met this boy. He may in fact be as crazed as she is, but Jingu is blessed with the ability of having her morals in check.

Jingu huffs in irritation, “If you want me out, I need your help. Otherwise, I'm stuck here and neither one of us wants that. Capiche?”

Gaara's stare does not waver and it only increases Jingu's annoyance. “Well?”

He takes a step forward and continues on as he decreases the distance between them. Jingu refuses to move and fall prey to her fears of a single person who is a few inches shorter than her and kept alive with a pumping heart like any other human. His gaze, however, goes past her and renders her existence irrelevant. His next step lands beside her making the hairs on her body stand. He continues forward without a word.

Jingu exhales a steady stream of air and follows him.

The light splashes of water from their steps is all that resounds in the empty void. They have continued on for several minutes and Jingu is tempted to ask where he intends to take her. Before she can even open her mouth a gust of wind hits them and nearly pushes Jingu off balance.

“What was that?” she asks aloud, not expecting an answer from Gaara.

Someone cackles within the shadows ahead of them and then turns into an ear-shattering laughter that pierces the eardrums. Whoever it's coming from sounds large.

“Who-”

A pair of star-shaped eyes erupt from the shadows high above their heads. Then a snout and jagged teeth that protrude from its lips emerges. Blue swirls and patterns extend across its enormous body and marks the sand colored skin. It carries a large belly that reaches the floor and a long tail with spikes swings back and forth behind it.

If Jingu has any blood in this form, it would be draining from her face. Her lips turn dry and her pupils dilate twice their size.

“What is that?” she attempts to speak with a tightened throat.

“Eh? Who is this?” the creature is loud with a shrilling voice, “Gaara, you brought a girl here?” his laughter shakes the water and vibrates the course of Jingu's body.

Gaara's eye twitches, the only proof he gives of his annoyance, “She needs a way out.”

“Oh? How'd you get in here, girly?”

Jingu has shuttered from his appearance, but there is no hint of violent intent in his unnatural eyes and his body is completely lax. She breathes in several in takes of air to calm her nerves. If she compares this creature to the old woman then she can assume that he resides within Gaara, and may be the source of his power to control sand without the use of hand signs. If this were true it could mean she has found someone else who has an unknown entity residing within themselves. The blood pumps fast in her veins from this exciting revelation. At last, she has found some sort of clue.

“I don't know. I'm in the dark as much as you are. But...,” her twisted elation peaks at the surface, “do you live inside of him? What are you? It's possible that there's something like you living within me as well.”

“Huh? You think you've got a demon living inside of ya too?”

“A demon,” she mumbles to herself. It could be possible and explain the spurt of strength her body receives when she is not in control.

“Do demons resemble your appearance? Are there others-”

“Man! You talk a lot. I don't feel like answering a bunch of questions for a puny human. One human resident is all I can take.”

“Wait! But-”

“Listen. I don't sense any tailed beast spirit inside ya. You're just crazy. Now leave.”

He performs a hand sign and a black seal forms beneath her feet. Her legs sink into it and they refuse to move by her will.

“I'm not...” her voice rises and falls to barely above a whisper, “crazy.”

She stills her body and allows the seal to consume her.

Jingu awakes and the tip of her nose skims Gaara's as her hands are still placed on either side of his head. His pale eyes are empty and unreadable and reminds her of the barren eye sockets in the old woman's face.

She gasps in horror and jumps a few meters back. Once she lands her knees buckle and she falls onto the broken tiles, scraping her skin. Gaara's presence, or fear for her life, flee her thoughts when she reconsiders the demon's words. 'Crazy' he called her. A bitter smile is all she can afford to give herself.

A pair of feet dressed in black sandals stops in front of her. She neither has the strength nor mentality to face an opponent who can crush her without breaking a sweat. If her life ends here, she'll die with the regret of not accomplishing her petty dream. She spoke of it to Hinata and Kiba with such confidence when they had barely begun their lives as Genin. How stupid and immature.

Sand gathers around her legs then encases them in it. The grains continue to rise up her body and a vivid image of the men from Amegakure meeting their end by this very technique flashes across her vision.

Jingu's laugh is weak and her voice is almost gone, “Good.”

The sand stops. “You want to die.”

“You heard your demon. I'm not right in the head,” a faded chuckle, “I don't get any of this. But what I do understand is that I'm a liability to my team and I can see that this condition is not getting any better. I'm probably better off dead.”

Nothing moves and after seconds pass his feet turn towards the opposite direction and retreat away. The sand slides off her body then lifts in the air to return inside his gourd.

On the verge of desperation she calls out, “What are you doing?”

He does not respond.

When Jingu lifts her head he is nowhere in sight and his presence has vanished.

She sits with the moon looming above her; her only companion, and the breeze is the only thing that cares as it caresses her body with its gentle touches. Neither offer the comfort she needs or are able to present to her what she wants most of all.

The putrid scent of the Oto shinobi's corpse wafts under her nose. She does not turn or wince from its overwhelming power, and instead laments his luck of being stripped away from this world.

Jingu sighs, “I should go home.”

After standing herself up a name crosses her lips, “Hayate.”

Her personal issue is of a lesser concern compared to what she witnessed tonight. Her village may be in peril and it must be reported to the Hokage. She studies her location then bends her legs in a position to jump when she spots the Hokage Monument. She leaps into the air and a lock of her hair lifts on its own, bringing Jingu back down to the ground—hard.

The impact to her back gets her winded and the invisible force does not give her a second to catch her breath. It lifts her in the air by the hair making Jingu scream in pain as she waves her hand at a nonexistent foe. It throws her to the ground creating an impact that makes the tiles break beneath her; the pieces cutting through her clothes and flesh.

Her lock of hair falls over her bleeding face. Then, an indent in the shape of a fingerprint presses against the temple of her head. Then another beneath it where her eyebrow is. Jingu's breathing becomes abnormal and her body does not cease to shake. There is slight movement in her hair while three more indents are made in them.

Through chattering teeth and with a numb tongue, Jingu pleads, “No.”

The indents deepen into her skin and the spots turn red and purple. Her head lifts off the ground, and a warm breath with the stank of rotten meat hits her ear.

“If you tell anyone about those fools conspiring, everyone you love will die by your hand.”

Small slits appear above the five indents and blood seeps out from them. Jingu squirms from the pain—powerless.

“ _Never_ resort to that kind of trickery with me again. For, as you know, the worst person you can deceive is yourself,” she pauses for a moment then sighs, “Perfect boy.”

Jingu's head falls limp to the ground. The indents in her skin are gone, but are left with terrible bruising. Her body aches in every place when she sits herself up and her throat clenches when she chokes back a sob.

“Oh, God,” her emotions slide down her cheeks in thin streaks. They keep pouring in an endless cascade, but no matter how much they fall it will never be enough to release the blight swelling inside her soul.

Her legs bend like rubber and makes constant missteps over broken tiles and split wood. In a burst of energy she jumps on top of another building and in the corner of her eye obtains a glimpse of, what she thinks, is white cloth riding with the wind. She dismisses it as another figment of her fantasy.

 

* * *

 

 

Days roll by like seconds to Jingu. She's lost track of how many has passed since she spoke with Gaara's demon, and time is nonexistent. She showers, changes clothes when she begins to tire of them, and she eats. It's a process she has repeated a numerous amount of times. She also hasn't cleaned a single thing since her return. If Izumo came home right now, he wouldn't care how much of a disarray she may appear to be in; he would knock her out in a heartbeat.

She remembers knocks and voices at her door like an old dream. Sometimes she recognized Kiba's and other times Hinata's. After more than several attempts Kurenai's voice would finally come through. The more persistent knocks however were the ones that didn't carry a voice afterward. Even though Jingu would mask her existence with her Reverse Time Manipulation (what she used for the first time in the Forest of Death) during each visitation, his presence would linger by the door for hours at a time.

She does not doubt that they are aware of her locking herself inside the apartment, otherwise they would have stopped long ago. And for the most part they have respected her privacy. Hinata isn't the type to use her byakuugan to spy on friends or comrades. Kiba and Akamaru must have caught her scent long before their knuckles touched the door, but they do not use it against her to draw her out. Kurenai, ceasing after two attempts makes Jingu believe that she had gone to disclose Izumo or Kotetsu. And Shino has not let a single one of insects slip through the cracks of the door to spy on her.

If they saw her face, she worries they will discern the guilt drawn all over it. She has to hold her tongue over what transpired during the night of the full moon, and misleading her friends and her village is the worst thing she can do as a shinobi. During her time alone all she thinks about is Hayate's fate and how it would be his blood on her hands if that shinobi from Suna killed him. If she had control over her body or understood what is wrong with her, then she could have gone to get help or relay what she saw so his efforts would not go to waste. She is committing a terrible treason as she lays on the couch, but if she tells someone...

The old hag hasn't made an appearance since that night, and Jingu comes to understand that she doesn't have to. Her threat is a noose tied around her neck and any wrong move against the woman's wishes she would hang her in an instant.

Jingu laughs. It is empty and bears nothing comical. If Hayate is dead, Jingu would not forgive herself for she is close to finalizing her theory that there is no old woman, but her existence only.

Someone strikes the door three times. It's heavy and strong, and holds no resemblance to the previous knocks she had heard countless times. Her body rolls off the couch and lands in a crouched position without making a sound. She moves against the wall and slides her back up against it. On her tip toes, she inches to the door. Once she is beside the doors right side there is another three knocks.

“Kamizuki Jingu. If you're not out on  **my** count to three, there won't be a door anymore.”

Jingu's jaw slacks and her mouth hangs agape at the voice. She had forgotten that Izumo had asked a psychological expert to help with her problems and he mentioned it being someone she was familiar with. But this was the last person she expected it to be. His being here may also have something to do with Hayate, but Jingu made sure not be seen when she fled the scene. If she were discovered in any case, a group of Anbu would be the ones to take her away and they do not bother with pleasantries like knocking.

First knock.

_ If you're not out on  _ _**my** _ _ count to three... _ , he said. 

Second knock.

In a rush, Jingu releases the lock, turns the knob and opens the door.

Morino Ibiki stands with his fist raised for the third knock.

“Good morning,” his voice is deep and clear.

The man seems a lot taller than what Jingu remembered and his shoulders twice the width. His aura of intimidation is very much the same, though.

“Are you... who Izumo asked to help me?”

“I'm here to do what I can, but in the end you can only help yourself.”

Tough words, Jingu thinks, but it's what she needs to hear. She needs to help herself; both selves.

“Um. Are we-?” she takes a look at the apartment: the kitchen is relatively clean save for the two trash bags that she didn't take out; she mainly lived off of pre-cooked meals this past month. Some clothes are laid across the floor in the family room area, but nothing indecent. Empty potato chip bags and bottles of water are displayed on the coffee table and couch. The place isn't too shabby through her eyes, but it's as cluttered as her thoughts.

Ibiki interjects, “We're heading to my office. Are you going dressed like that?”

Jingu blinks and observes herself: men's boxers and a shirt one size too small for her. Without a word or glance in Ibiki's direction, she returns inside and goes into a room to her left. Ibiki waits by the door she left ajar and takes into account the state of the apartment.

 

Jingu follows close behind Ibiki and is dressed in an appropriate attire consisting of her usual shinobi outfit with weapon pouches strapped onto her. She regrets cooping herself up inside her home for she has forgotten how much she has missed the smell of leaves and warmth of the sun. 

He avoids streets with heavy crowds by weaving through back alleys and small roads that Jingu never knew existed. After some time, she lost track of the direction they are going as they come into an area that is alien to her. Ibiki continues through a calm clearing void of any humans and run by small creatures. Large trees with wide barks cracked with age begin to encompass them and soon the forest becomes dense enough to hide the sky. At this point, if she even considered turning back, she is sure to get lost.

Ibiki stops, “We're here.”

There is nothing in the area but the usual forest shrubbery, plants and animals. Jingu checks the trees for a hideout within them, but nothing. There are no buildings or a rock wall that may have a hidden doorway. Her eyebrows raise with surprise when Ibiki crouches by a rock the size of an adult boar. He performs a series of hand signs then presses his hand onto it. Black markings bleed out of the rock and forms a circle around his hand. After he removes his hand the rock moves on its own to reveal a dark stairway leading down.

“Let's go.”

He starts down the stairs, but Jingu takes just one hesitant step. It occurs to her that she should not have seen the directions he had taken to lead her here—in fact she wonders why she was shown this carefully reserved hideout. Jingu has not forgotten that he is an interrogation specialist and his test during the First Chuunin Exam. There is no doubt in her mind he is harboring an ulterior motive, although she cannot consider what it is for the life of her. This in itself may be a test.

She swallows a lump in her throat. This fear is not the same kind she has with Gaara or the old woman. He has experienced things not every shinobi has. Most shinobi are killed during their missions, but Ibiki was never granted that luxury. She can only imagine how many times that his life stood on the thin edge of a coin. As he had said during the exam, any mistake or false move can tip the coin to land on heads or tails. Torture, Jingu thinks, may be far worse than death for it is something one must live with as long as they live.

The blood rushes fast in her veins from the shroud of mystery that surrounds this man, and his undeniable power of manipulation that has others follow his design without their being aware of it. Izumi said he will help her, but what Ibiki's methods of help are, are beyond her.

“Having doubts already?”

Jingu moves with a jolt and carries an unsettling weight in her stomach from his smirk that deliberately gives away a snippet of his thoughts; he has something special in store for her and he is going to enjoy picking at her brain.

She holds her breath.

He may, by accident, pick apart enough of her to discover what happened during the night of the full moon. If she withholds anything back, it will be like a faint smell striking his senses.

It is very brief, but her upper body turns back on its own before she stops herself from fleeing. Her eyes lock onto Ibiki to find any indication of him noticing her motive (however small it was). If he did, he has no intention of reflecting upon it. The blood rushes from her head down to the soles of her feet from her poor mistake. He continues down the stairs, choosing to ignore Jingu's hesitation. Without a choice, Jingu pursues him.

When her head is just below the surface, the rock moves above her head and removes all light from her sight. She follows Ibiki's footsteps and feels her way down the stairs. She descends for a minute then listens to Ibiki walking on solid ground. Not even a second later, Jingu presses the base of her foot on flat land and white light flickers on. In a steady succession down the hall, fluorescent light tubes illuminate one by one down the endless tunnel that's lined with varied sizes of metal cables and some doors every few yards apart.

Ibiki moves away from the light switch and opens a metal door, stained with grime, next to it.

“This way.”

They enter a room with several chairs lying about in an empty room with poorly washed floors and cement walls. Before they enter an adjacent room, Jingu glances down at smeared dried blood.

Ibiki situates himself behind a dilapidated desk that is clear of any instruments one would have for an office—if Jingu can call it that. It's gray and bleak with only one orange light to illuminate the room. Peels of paint are falling off the walls, but most are gone. There is a single chair in front of the desk made of cushion and fabric. The red color is worn out and the strings of the fabric are popping out of place. Jingu takes Ibiki's silence behind his desk as his way of waiting and sits her self down as the legs creak beneath her weight.

“This used to be where Konoha's Intelligence Division was located many years ago,” he sits back against the chair, “And this very room was my father's office.”

Jingu grips her pant legs, “What does this have to do with helping me?”

“You don't know who your paternal father is. Or your mother.”

A shadow casts over Jingu's expression. She remains silent.

“Do you have any memories of your parents?”

“Of course I do.”

“Not your adopted family. Your real parents.”

Jingu slips out the word so quickly that it could have just as easily been lost in the air. “No,” she says.

“You were found when you were 3 years old. Children usually remember things at that age.”

“I said no!”

Ibiki blinks, undeterred. “The woman's face you see in your dreams. Did you recognize it the first time you saw it?”

“No.”

“Describe her appearance.”

She stumbles over the first few words, “Like a corpse. Her skin is rotting. Her eyes gouged and bleeding. Her hair is long and white. Her teeth black,” Jingu trembles from the memory, “She smells like death.” The smell hits her and she turns to look behind her. Then at the four corners of the ceiling. Nothing.

“There's no one here, but us.”

With a wavering sigh, Jingu eases her tense shoulders. The smell may have been her imagination; she's smelled the damned flesh so many times, it wouldn't surprise her. It can also be a warning, though. Jingu self consciously reaches for neck, then stops. She attempts to hide her panic when she looks at Ibiki, who is giving her a hard stare.

“Do you remember?” he asks.

“Remember what?”

“Choking yourself during the exams.”

“I don't...”

Ibiki releases a heavy sigh through his nose. He interlaces his fingers together and rests them above his stomach, “Give me your take on what's wrong. I'm sure you have an opinion.”

“I don't-”

“Say it.”

She grimaces, “I have another personality.”

“Bipolar?”

“Maybe.”

“Hm,” his disagreement erupts from his hearty chest.

This worries Jingu.

“Do you only see this woman in your dreams?”

Her blood runs cold and everything from the waist down turns numb. She keeps spinning that it's a split personality over and over in head, but yet she is afraid to tell him the truth. There's more to it, and Jingu has been looking past it. Or she's only been in denial this whole time. It's apparent that Izumo has a lot of trust in Ibiki. He's shared information that only the two of them know. He truly believes Ibiki can help her.

“No.”

Ibiki's interest is peaked and the chair beneath him creaks when he shifts out his comfortable position. “Do you think she's real?”

“I... don't know. No?”

“Yes or no.”

Her heart palpitates. Her lips tremble. And her body quivers all over. The muscles in her neck tighten making it difficult for her to breath. Her features contort into an unrecognizable expression as she tries her hardest to hold back the tears that want to break through. But they sting so much.

“I'm not crazy,” she shatters. Everything comes flooding out and it doesn't seem to want to end. “I'm afraid of myself. That I'm going to hurt my friends. My brother. I don't know what to do. Please. Help me.”

Ibiki comes around the desk and leans his lower body against it, and directly in front of her. “I'm going to do what I can. Do you trust me?”

Jingu nods her head.

“Right now, you're diagnosed with schizophrenia and a bad case of one. From what I've gathered, during the Chuunin Exam combined with what your brother had told me, you are developing Positive Symptoms: hallucinations, hearing voices, smelling things, etc. These cases seem to appear at random...”

His voice drowns out and an image of Gaara's face appears. She cannot understand why the woman/Jingu wants with him. She fears him, yes. But so does every other genin. The hallucinations tend to get worse when she's around him.

“Are you listening?”

Jingu jolts, “Yes.”

Ibiki narrows his eyes, “As we continue to see each other there are a few rules you will follow. One: don't lie to me. If you do, I'll know. Two: I don't have a lot of patience, so when I give you a time for a meeting I expect you to be here on time. Not a minute later. Three: never train alone. It'll be bad if you have an episode when there's no one there to help you. And four: don't be afraid to ask questions. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Sensei.”

“Good,” he stands straight, “Today's session is over. I will be seeing you here at 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon. I'll be taking you back the same way we came, so remember this time.”

“Yes...”

“Let's go.”

Before Jingu steps out of the room she stops him, “Sensei?”

He gives her his full attention, “What is it?”

“Don't tell Izumo about what I told you. Please. I know there's something amiss in Konoha and that he's helping to deal with it. I can't have him worry anymore.”

“How much do you know?”

Jingu loses the ability to breathe. Hayate, Kabuto and the man from Suna. Vital information that can benefit Konoha. If what she's experiencing really a case of schizophrenia, then none of it is real. It's okay to reveal the information, right? Rotting flesh. She can smell it. A warning. But it's not real. It's not real. It's not real.

“Jingu.”

“Otogakure,” she spills, “That they're suspicious.”

Jingu looks him in the eye, but is unable to read him. The silence that passes between feels like a century, until he finally takes one step toward the exit.

“Best not to spread that as well. And don't worry about Izumo. Everything that passes between us is confidential until I say otherwise. C'mon.”

With as much discretion as she can, Jingu refills her lungs, but her throat is still clenched tight. She betrayed Konohagakure—her home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I choked up writing this. Jingu is so screwed up it makes me want to cry with empathy for her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please enjoy the next chapter.
> 
> If there are any Beta readers who are interested in this story, I would appreciate the help!


End file.
